


going down

by jaybaybay



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Airplane Crashes, Angst, Blood, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), Medical Experimentation, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Protective Tony Stark, Rescue Missions, Survival, The Author Regrets Nothing, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2019-11-05 07:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17914577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaybaybay/pseuds/jaybaybay
Summary: After Hydra hacks into their plane, causing it to crash in the middle of nowhere, Tony and Peter are left stranded and helpless. Whilst hunted by their oppressors, they must survive in the wilderness together before rescue can arrive.





	1. Birthday parties and private planes

**Author's Note:**

> alrighty so, this idea was given to me by Lovin_me_some_whump back in the summer, and I only just got around to it now. Sorry!
> 
>  
> 
> Things are starting off slow and fluffy, before the pain comes hehehe

Tony was more than excited. 

Today was Peter's sixteenth birthday, and _oh boy_ , Tony had quite the surprise set up for the kid. Tony knew that Peter wasn’t one for extravaganza, so there were no decorations except for a few streamers and balloons strewn about the lounge in the avengers compound. He also knew that since the kid was super sensitive to loud noises and flashing lights there could be no confetti poppers or strobe lights. 

Tony was keeping it simple, though it took every fibre in his being not to unleash the sleeping diva inside of him. 

The only decoration he had truly gone the distance for was the cake. He had Pepper hire the best cake chef she could find, and had it specially made for the kid; chocolate flavoured and Spider-man themed of course. 

Tony couldn’t wait for the moment when he would get to see Peter's eyes light up at the sight of it- and the cake wasn’t even the best part! No, no the best part was the gift that he was going to give Peter of course. He and May had been discussing this gift for weeks and a lot of thought had been going into it.

May had told him that Peter had been wanting to go to Tokyo for months, and upon her mentioning the city, Tony had immediately offered to take him. 

It really wasn’t a problem for him. He already owned several private planes, and the trip wouldn’t even put a dent in his wallet. May had been hesitant at first, it was quite the offer that she was receiving, but Tony had assured her that it was no problem and that he would be glad to take him on a much deserved vacation. It was the middle of the summer, and Peter barely ever got out of the city. Peter was turning 16, and Tony wanted his birthday to be something that he could remember fondly. 

He wouldn’t ever admit this to anyone but, for Peter, Tony would do anything.

And it was settled. The private jet was waiting for them in the hangar bay at that very moment. All Tony needed was Peter's agreement to go and they would be off. 

Tony's phone buzzed and he pulled out the device to check his messages.

_Happy: almost there. 2 minutes out. The kid suspects something is up so play it cool_

Tony rolled his eyes before typing out a response.

_Tony: of course the kid suspects something, he’s not an idiot_

He closed his phone and stuffed it in his pocket before taking in the sight of the room. Everything seemed to be...

Tony’s heart skipped a beat. They weren’t done putting up decorations yet. He had glanced up from his phone to see Natasha standing on Steve's shoulders, they appeared to be attempting to tape more streamers onto the high ceiling of the lounge room. Rhodey and Clint were off to the side chatting, with the cake displayed on the counter beside them along with a few small presents from the present avengers. Clint's eyes were darting between the cake and Rhodey every so often as they conversed. 

Tony clapped his hands together to gather everyone's attention. Rhodey and Clint wandered over to him but Nat stayed on Steve's shoulders. He spoke a bit louder then normal so the two that were still decorating would still be able to hear him. 

“Alright, so, underoos is going to be here in approximately…” he paused to look at his watch “... one minute and 7 seconds. So if we could do a quick tidy up, and get into our places now…” He left the sentence hanging and watched as Clint jumped a little.

“Already? Jesus that was fast. I didn’t even finish blowing up all the balloons yet.” The archer complained and gestured behind him towards the pile of uninflated rubber laying all over the floor. 

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and Rhodey laughed lightly. 

“I told you to start doing that an hour ago.” Tony countered and Clint crossed his arms over his chest defensively. 

“I’m sorry! There's only so much air in my lungs.”

“Yeah. That's why we _breathe_ Clint.” Steve called from his side of the room. He was passing another streamer to Natasha who still stood on his shoulders. 

Clint huffed and dramatically turned to go clean up his mess of unused balloons. “You know Stark, I don’t see why you didn’t just hire actual party planners for this.” He waved his hand around the room, “this looks like utter garbage.” 

Tony grabbed his suit jacket from where it was strewn across the couch. “I told you already Barton, _authenticity_. Peter likes things from the heart.” He said simply as he shrugged on his coat.

There was a soft ‘thud’ as Natasha hit the floor. She stood up and blew a strand of hair from her face. “I like it. I think it looks nice.” 

“Well of course _you_ would.” Clint teased and threw a balloon that hit her in the back of the head.

She glared at him darkly. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Uh, nothing…” They started bickering with each other and Tony drowned them out, too used to their squabbles to care any longer. 

Rhodey leaned in close to his ear, “children.” He whispered, and Tony smiled.

Yes, things were a bit of a mess, Clint and Steve were dressed in sweats and the room was a different story. A few of the banners that had been hung up were starting to peel off the wall and Tony kept finding random pieces of tape attached to his clothing. To some people the room would appear to be a disaster but to Tony it was warm and fun looking. The room gave off a friendly and playful vibe that Tony felt described Peter perfectly. He really hoped that the kid would like it. 

“Boss, Happy Hogan and Peter and May Parker have entered the compound.” FRIDAY’s clear voice called from the ceiling. Everyone froze for a moment before breaking out into a frenzy. 

Natasha and Clint quit arguing as they all started bustling around, hurriedly picking up stray pieces of garbage and plastic that were strewn about the room. Steve, Natasha, and Clint all ran over to hide behind the couch as Rhodey went to stand behind the fridge, as he was unable to crouch down due to his leg braces. 

When Tony was sure that everything was set, he made his way to the door.

“Tony, wait!” Steve shouted at him and he turned in time to see Steve almost trip over the couch in his haste to meet him. 

“Wha-” Tony started as Steve reached towards his back and pulled off a streamer that had been taped onto the shoulder of his jacket. The two men looked at it for a moment before they could hear Clint snickering from behind the couch. Tony sent a glare in his direction. “Just stick it on the wall or something Steve.” He muttered under his breath before flinging open the door and coming face to face with Happy's fist. 

_Oh shit._

Happy pulled his hand away from Tony's face as soon as the door was open, a look of surprise painting the big man’s face. 

“Oh, hey boss, I was just about to knock…” 

Tony hastily slammed the door shut behind him as a mop of brown curls popped over Happy's shoulder. He prayed to god that the kid hadn’t seen or heard anything. 

“Hey Hap,” he greeted cheerfully. Peter stepped out from around Happy's body with a grin on his face. 

“Hi Mr. Stark!” He almost shouted, practically bouncing on his toes with excitement. Tony feigned confusion, hoping to throw Peter off his game.

“Kid! What are you doing here?” he asked, and Peters smile faltered a little. 

His eyebrows raised into his hairline and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Mr. Stark, you _asked_ me to come here.”

“Did I?” He looked over towards Happy who just shrugged before turning back towards Peter. “I don’t remember. Well since you’re here do you wanna work on the suit or something? But your aunt is here too I see…” He stepped forward with an outstretched hand to greet May. “Mrs Parker, It’s a pleasure to have you here… as always.” 

Peter just narrowed his eyes as he watched their interaction, not having any of this freshly cooked bullshit Tony was serving him. “Alright, Mr. Stark who’s back there?” He pointed at the door Tony stood in front of.

“Back there?” he questioned, “Why would anyone be back there?”

“To surprise me.” He stated smugly.

Tony put on his best confused face he could muster. “Why do you think you’re going to be surprised?”

“Because it’s my birthday?”

“Is it!?”

“ _Mr. Stark_ ” Peter pleaded, and Tony folded.

“Alright, alright, i’ll let you in…” He opened the door and led Peter in slowly. “If it’s the only way to prove that we’re not throwing you a…” 

“SURPRISE!” The avengers in the room popped out from their hiding spots and shouted all at once, and Peter burst into laughter. Tony's heart bloomed at the beautiful sound. 

_This was what he lived for_.

Peter wiped at his eyes as he caught his breath. “Wow…” he beamed as he looked around the room. “You guys… you guys really outdid yourselves.” 

“Uh, how do you know that it was us who did it?” Clint asked from his seat at the couch.

“Oh, um…” Peter trailed off as his eyes locked onto something over Tony's shoulder. “Oh my God!” He shouted and strode over, mouth gaping, to the counter where Rhodey was standing. “I- what… is this for me?” He asked in awe as he pointed to the Spider-man cake.

All the adults in the room laughed at Peters ridiculous question before they started introducing themselves to May. Tony wandered over to where Peter was staring incredibly at his cake. 

Tony broke him out of his stupor by ruffling his hair. “Of course it's yours, squirt. How many other spiderlings birthdays do you think it is today?” 

Peter looked up at him with wide eyes. “I- just, I… Mr. Stark, you really didn’t have to…”

“Of course I did, it’s your birthday, kiddo.”

“I know, it’s just… wow.” Peter looked back down at the cake. “I hope it wasn’t hard to get. It’s really nice. T-thank you Mr. Stark.”

“Don’t thank me, thank Pepper. The cake was her idea.” Tony was starting to grow even more excited- if that were even possible. If this was Peter's reaction to a _cake_ , he couldn’t wait to see the kids reaction to an entire trip to Japan. (It was a really nice cake though).

Natasha slunk around the counter top, a soft smile on her lips. Peters joy seemed to be contagious. “Hey little spider, i’ll give you 10 dollars if you open up my gift before Clint's.” She hummed in a low voice.

“Hey!” Tony shouted before Peter could respond. He grabbed his kid by the shoulders and pulled him away from the super spy. “No bribing the kid! He’s sixteen for Christ’s sake!”

“Wait! Wait Mr. Stark…” Peter wiggled out of Tony's grip to look at him sincerely. “You guys got me gifts?” He asked softly and Tony looked at him as if he had a third eye.

“Um, yeah? It’s your birthday, is it not?” Tony asked gently.

Peter looked over at May for clarification, and Tony could almost _hear_ his confusion.

“Yes, sweetheart. This is all for you.” May answered his questioning gaze. “And before you accuse me of setting this up, don’t. This was all their idea, Tony’s mostly.” 

Peter seemed to be struck speechless as he turned to face his mentor. His expression was a cocktail of awe and confusion at the same time, like he was afraid to enjoy himself. Tony felt slightly hurt at this reaction, but was also slightly amazed. There really was no one as pure as this kid standing in front of him, and if he could, he would give Peter the world.

Peters silence was started to make Tony uncomfortable and the billionaire struggled to bring up another topic before he was suddenly embraced in a bone-crushing hug that knocked the wind out of him. Peter was squeezing him so tightly that he was sure that if Peter was any taller, Tony's feet wouldn’t be touching the floor. 

Before Tony could even take a breath, he was released from the hold and slightly doubling over at the sudden lack of support. He rubbed at his chest and coughed as Peter started dancing around the room, letting out a string of ‘thank yous’ like a children's toy with broken batteries. It was quite funny to watch, Tony thought as he caught his breath, and well worth the hours of preparation that had been put into this party. Peters reaction was exactly what he had been hoping for and was more than satisfying.

May watched her nephew come alive with happiness and love from her seat on the couch. After a few minutes, when Peter had calmed down, she pulled out the first present.

The present opening was quite entertaining to watch and Tony insisted that his gift needed to be given last, and when the two of them were alone. He really wanted it to be special.

Peter collected some great gifts from May and the other avengers, and Tony also delivered some small presents from Bruce and Vision, who couldn’t be at the compound for the party but still sent their love to Peter. 

Overall, it had been a great day. Steve cooked everyone dinner before Tony had FRIDAY set up a Star Wars marathon for them all to watch. Clint had headed back home before the sun had set, and Happy had driven May back to the apartment, as Peter was going to spend the night with Tony at the compound. The others had stayed up to watch the marathon but one by one they all headed off to bed until only Tony and Peter were left sitting on the couch together. 

Episode 7 was about to start and Tony was starting to doze off. He groggily checked the time on his watch. It was almost 2:30 in the morning. Sure, Tony was a bit of an insomniac and so wasn’t usually bothered by the time, however it had been a long day and he was feeling pretty tuckered out.

He looked over to see Peter sprawled out and snoozing lightly beside him on the couch. 

Tony poked at his leg and Peters head twitched. “Pete, wake up…” He whispered and the boy groaned in response.

“... 5 more minutes.” He muttered and turned his head away from the TV’s bright lights. Tony pulled out the pillow that had been previously tucked under his butt, and whacked Peter in the stomach with it.

“Wake up, lazy bones.” He laughed as Peters eyes cracked open and formed an angry stare in Tony's direction. “Don’t look at me like that, I thought you’d be happy to hear that I have one last present for you…” 

Peter pulled the abandoned pillow off his lap and over his face, covering his eyes. “More?” he groaned again and Tony barked a laugh at that.

“Yes, and this one’s quite different so pay attention please.” He tugged on the corner of the pillow covering Peter, pulling it down far enough that his eyes were exposed.

Peter blinked at him. “Why do I feel like you’re about to propose?” 

“Um, no I have something better than that…” He smirked as Peter raised an eyebrow at him. “Your aunt and I have been talking, and she tells me that you have been wanting to go to a little town called Tokyo for a little while now and- are you okay?” 

Peter had suddenly sat bolt upright and placed both his hands over his mouth, eyes wide. 

Tony felt the the colour drain from his face, “Are you okay, are you going to be sick?” he asked, reaching out for Peter, just incase.

“Oh my God…” Peter squeaked from behind his hands. “You’re going to take me to Japan, aren’t you!” Tony just nodded as his momentary panic subsided. “YES!” Peter screamed and leapt up off the couch like it was on fire. “Oh my God, yes! Yesyesyesyesyes!” 

Tony watched with amusement while Peter jumped around in a circle then promptly launched himself at Tony. He wrapped his arms tightly around his chest and snuggled his face into Tony's chest.

“Oh my god, Mr. Stark I love you!” 

Tony froze in disbelief at the words. He slowly looked down at the bundle in his lap. This kid- this _child_ just said that he _loved_ him. Tony gently carded his fingers through Peters soft curls. 

“Love you too kiddo.” he whispered only for the kid to hear, just incase anyone else was still around. 

After a moment, Tony cleared his throat. “So, I take that as a yes? You wanna go?”

Peter pulled away from the embrace and nodded happily, with his eyes half lidded. It seemed that after the initial excitement had worn off he was falling back asleep again. 

“Great, so we can leave tomorrow I was thinking? If you don’t already have plans, that is.” 

Peter yawned and shook his head. “No, my friends had a little party for me last night so i’m basically free the rest of the week.” 

“It’s a date then.” Tony declared and stood up from the couch, cracking his back as he did so. He turned to see that Peter had spread out across the rest of the couch, the pillow tucked under his head. 

Tony sighed. He was going to make Peter go to his room in the compound to sleep, but he looked perfectly content to sleep on the couch. Tony let it slide. It was the kids birthday afterall, and if he wanted to sleep on the couch, then so be it. He picked up a blanket from the floor and draped it across his kids body, smiling warmly when Peter snuggled into it.

“You’re like a little baby…” he whispered before asking FRIDAY to turn off the movie and the lights. After a quick look around, Tony decided it was time for him to head off to bed as well.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter called out as Tony was about to leave the room.

“Yeah kiddie?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Peter.”

Yeah. It had been a good day. 

Tony believed that it could only get better. Little did he know that it would get so much worse.


	2. Sabotage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “...system-... overridden I cannot-...” The lights in the plane started flickering insanely and Peter had to cover his eyes before they went back to normal. “...sending distre-... distress sig… nal to… Cap-... Rodgers…” FRIDAY’s voice dropped to a low pitch before she went completely silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like dialogue because oof

“Lets go, Pete! Time’s a wastin’!” Tony knocked on his bedroom door as he hollered.

“I’m almost done!” Peter shouted before turning back to the mirror and sliding a hand through his neatly styled hair. He was almost ready to go. There was just one more piece of his outfit that he needed before he could feel complete. His eyes scanned over the bathroom counter top until they found what they were looking for. 

_Perfect_.

Peter unfolded the orange tinted aviators and settled them on his nose before checking himself out in the mirror once more. _Heck yes_ , he thought. He looked _so cool_. 

Peter leaned one arm against the counter and slid his glasses down to the brim of his nose with the other. “Well aren’t you a handsome fella-”

“Peter! Let’s go, kid!” Tony was back at his door suddenly, causing Peter to jump and almost drop his new glasses. He couldn’t afford to let them break- quite literally too. They had been a special birthday gift from Ned and Michelle, who had collectively saved up their money for months to buy them for him. He really didn’t deserve his friends. 

“Coming!” He shouted and ran to his door, throwing it open and sliding through the doorframe in his socks. Tony was standing right outside his room, typing something into the wall. Probably giving FRIDAY some last minute instructions or something, Peter figured. “Hey, Mr. Stark! Check me out.” He announced and Tony turned his head to look at him.

Peter did a little spin as Tony laughed at the sight of him. “What’s with the look, kid?” He circled a hand over his face in reference to the glasses Peter was wearing. Tony had his own pair on as well. 

Peter giggled, “Don’t you like it? I think it’s very ‘Tony Stark’”. 

“It is, it’s very good.” Tony nodded his approval with a smile on his lips, taking in the sight of him. Peter had dressed up a little more than he usually did whenever he visited Tony; _if_ you could call wearing a button up shirt shirt instead of one with a science pun ‘dressing up’. Peter could see that Tony had noticed nonetheless, and it made his heart swell warmly. 

“If you want, I could also show you my Tony Stark swag walk that I’ve been working on...” Peter threw his head back dramatically and went to take a sauntering step forward before Tony grabbed his shoulders.

“Nope! Nope, we don’t need to see that. You’re going to make me look like a fool.” Tony laughed and gently pushed Peter back into his room. “Grab your stuff, it’s time to head out.” 

Peter ‘whooped’ as he slid back inside his room, heading straight to his bed where his suitcase resided. Before he zipped it up though, he tossed in his web shooters and a few extra cartridges for them. He had restrained himself from bringing the Spider-man suit, convincing himself that he wouldn’t need it. It would be hard to explain the random appearance of Spider-man in Japan anyways, but he still packed his web shooters for consolation. 

Peter slid some shoes onto his feet and exited the room, giving a quick goodbye to Karen as he left, who had been installed to be the AI in Peter's room. 

 

When the private jet appeared in his line of sight, Peter felt his heart rate rise in excitement. The only thing holding him back from dropping everything and sprinting towards it was the hand gently grasping the back of his neck. It was almost as if Tony could read his mind and knew how badly he wanted to take off already, and had grabbed onto him to keep him from running off like an overexcited puppy. 

Rhodey was standing outside the jet awaiting their arrival and as the two approached him, a SHIELD technician exited the plane. He walked up to Tony and Peter with a clipboard in his hands.

“Everything seems to be in order, Mr. Stark. The coordinates have been set and estimated travel time is 8 hours.” Tony nodded approvingly but Peter was taken aback.

“8 _hours_ ” He blurted out before he could stop himself. Tony snorted and dropped his hand to his side as Rhodey came over to stand beside them. Peter had only ever been on one plane ride in his entire life, and it hadn’t been under great circumstances. It was the plane he had taken with Happy to Germany to fight Steve, back when the Sokovia Accords were the avengers biggest issue. He thought that plane ride was long, but compared to Japan it didn’t seem like much at all.

“You sound surprised kid. On a normal plane the ride to Tokyo can take up to 14 hours, so you should consider yourself lucky.” Mr. Stark chuckled before he turned back to the technician. 

“Is there anything else I can do for you sir?” The technician asked and Tony waved him off.

“No, that’s all, thank you.” Tony dismissed him and faced Peter. “You can go get settled on board, there’s just a few things I need to discuss with Rhodey before we pop off.” 

“Have a safe flight Peter.” Rhodey added; his kind voice boding him farewell.

“Thank you Mr. Rhodey sir, I hope you have a good week without us.” Peter struggled to find an appropriate term to address him with but Rhodey just smiled kindly as Peter answered him. 

Peter took a small step towards the jet before rushing up the steps and into the plane. _Wow_ , Peter thought as he stepped inside. The interior was really nice, though Peter also figured that any plane would look nice to him because he had been in so few. There were a few sets of seats placed around the small space and Peter picked out a spot in the back by the window. His glasses were starting to make his nose itch in irritation so he took them off and set them softly on the table in front of him. 

As he looked around, he started to realize that there wasn’t much else inside the plane except for seats and tables and Peter started to wonder what Tony and him were going to do over the span of 8 hours. He hoped that there was some food kicking around in the back where their luggage should be. Peter could already feel his metabolism burning through the pancakes that Tony had made him for breakfast an hour earlier. 

Peter was distracted from his thoughts when he heard the sound of Tony coming up the steps to the plane. “Just make sure the compound isn’t burnt to a crisp when we get back,” he hollered to Rhodey before stepping inside. Peter smiled at his presence, _it was time to go!_

Tony spotted Peter comfortably seated near the back of the plane and smirked at him before raising his watch to his mouth. “Take us away, Fri.” 

The jet started to rumble and the door slowly closed. Peter tensed and gripped his seat at the sudden change in dynamics, he didn’t think he could ever grow used to the feeling or sound of a plane taking off. 

Tony casually walked down the aisle to sit in the seat that was directly across from him. He plopped down, eying Peters tensed form with barely masked concern.

“Are you alright?” Tony asked, “You’re not looking so hot kiddo..”

Peter cleared his suddenly dry throat. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Tony didn’t stop staring at him, and Peter made his best effort to relax as the plane took off. “I just don’t usually have the best experiences with planes- or flying for that matter.” 

“Ahhh,” Tony settled more into his seat as he accepted Peters response. “Are you talking about that time I first recruited you to kick some self-righteous ass, or that time you completely destroyed my invisible jet?” 

_Ah shit,_ Peter had completely forgot about that. He winced at the sore memory. “Um, I was thinking about that time you had Happy take me to Germany.” 

Tony eyes flashed darkly for a brief moment before he laughed, “I forgot I had Happy take you. What did he do? Did he sleep- did he snore?” He asked excitedly.

“Yes, I caught it on video too!” Peter exclaimed before lowering his voice, “But you can’t tell him, he’ll be so mad…”

“Oh kid, he’s got a soft spot for you. I don’t think he’d be mad for long.” 

Peter smiled and looked out the window next to him; he tried not to suck in a gasp at the beautiful sight. He had forgotten what it was like to glide above the clouds, it was peaceful and Peter felt his body relax as he soaked it all in. He crossed his legs underneath himself, content to watch the wings of the plane slice through the white fluff. 

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tony look outside the window as well. The older man didn’t seem to be as impressed with the sight as Peter, as he had probably seen it hundreds of times before. 

“You picked a nice day for this, kiddo.” Tony breathed as he kicked his feet up onto the table that was placed between them, the man tilted his head back and let his eyes close, relaxed. Peter glanced at his mentor as he spoke to him but something behind Tony's shoulder caught his eye. 

“Um, Mr. Stark?” 

Tony opened his eyes to look at him,“Yeah, Pete?”

“Um, w-who’s driving the plane?” Peter asked, letting uncertainty raise his voice a pitch. 

Tony looked over his shoulder and into the cockpit. “The plane has its own coordinates programmed into it, with FRIDAY monitoring our course.” He turned back around and didn’t seem bothered at all, so Peter settled again. “If we run into trouble, I can always take control and fly her manually.”

Peter’s eyes popped open. “Trouble?” he questioned, “What sorta trouble?”

“I don’t know, if we get shot at or something- _which won’t happen_ ” He added sternly in response to Peter's reaction. Tony settled backwards and closed his eyes again, head tilted towards the sunlight streaming through the window. “Let’s just not think about that, alright? Positive thoughts, Pete…” 

Right. Positive thoughts. Peter could do that.

They fell into silence and Peters mind drifted. Mr. Stark had reminded him of the last mini plane ride he had had; the one where he spent the majority of it dangling from a string of web and being attacked by his girlfriends dad. Yeah, that hadn’t been fun. Then it had _crashed_ and he had almost gotten blown up and wait… wasn’t he supposed to be thinking of positive stuff?

“Peter.” Peters head poked up from where he had been staring absentmindedly. 

“Yeah?” he answered and Tony looked down at Peters leg with raised eyebrows. Peter followed his gaze. His leg was bouncing up and down at a rapid pace, his shoe squeaking wetly against the metal of the seat. He could tell it was bothering Mr. Stark so he pushed on his knee with his hand to make it stop.

“Sorry, Mr. Stark.” He let out a nervous laugh. _That was embarrassing_. 

Tony suddenly stood up, drumming his fists on the table as he did so. Peter watched him walk to the back of the plane and open up a cupboard. Tony let out a long whistle and Peter tried twisting his neck to see what was inside but couldn’t. 

“What game do you want to play, kiddo?” 

Peter perked up at that thought, “We have games!?” 

Tony chuckled, “Yeah, get your spider butt over here and pick one out.”

Peter was out of his seat in a flash.

 

They played a variety of games for hours, only breaking for snacks. They took a long pause when they finally got over the Atlantic Ocean, and Peter could look out the window and see something _other_ than blue below him. 

They were in the middle of their third checkers match when it happened. 

It was looking like Peter was finally going to win a game. “King me, peasant.” He taunted playfully as he reached Tony's side of the board. 

Tony glared back at him, but it lacked any real malice. He opened his mouth to speak but his response was stolen by the abrupt rumbling of the plane and flickering lights. It only lasted for a few seconds, and Peter shrugged it off, assuming it was just turbulence. The shaking of the plane was so severe it had caused some of the checkers pieces to slide off the board and onto the floor.

Peter groaned and bent down to pick them up. “It looks like we’re going to have to start over Mr. Stark.” He finished picking up the pieces and sat back up. Tony hadn’t responded to him; instead he sat stiff as a board and he was looking behind him at the cockpit. “Mr. Stark?” His silence was starting to concern Peter.

Tony suddenly stood up and marched over to the cockpit. “FRIDAY, what the hell was that?” 

At the tone of his voice Peter froze. Something had to be wrong if Mr. Stark was asking what had happened. He had almost sounded scared, if not that then 100% worried and that was _never_ a good sign. Peter tentatively got out of his seat as well, and followed after him into the cockpit. 

“Mr. Stark?” He asked again albeit much quieter. 

“Shhh, Peter…” Tony hushed from where he sat in the pilots seat, fiddling with the controls and various buttons.

“I’m not sure, boss. My scans show that it was not-... caus-... weather…” 

“FRIDAY?” Tony sounded panicked for amount before calming himself. “Talk to me sweetheart, what’s going on?”

Peter sat down in the copilots seat, mouth going horribly dry. He didn’t know what was happening but he knew it was bad by the way Tony's hands were starting to shake as he fidgeted with the controls. 

“...system-... overridden I cannot-...” The lights in the plane started flickering insanely and Peter had to cover his eyes before they went back to normal. “...sending distre-... distress sig… nal to… Cap-... Rodgers…” FRIDAY’s voice dropped to a low pitch before she went completely silent. 

Peters heart was beating way too fast. What was happening?

“FRIDAY?” Tony muttered again quietly. Peter noted that his face was white as a sheet with beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Tony looked up and caught Peters eye. “We’re okay, we’re okay… I’ve just got to figure this out.” Tony tried to hide his fear when he attempted to comfort Peter, but Peter could still hear it in his voice. “We’re going to be fine.” 

The lights dimmed completely and the two were left in darkness, the only light source in the plane being the sunlight damped by the cloud coverage. The only sounds that accompanied them were the heavy hum of the engines running and the sound of each others harsh breathing.

Peter was terrified. “M- Mr. Stark?” He whispered, unable to remove his eyes off of the ground miles, and miles below them. _What if they crashed?_

Tony reached out and gripped Peters shoulders, forcing the boy to look at him. His mentors warm and firm grip brought him back down to reality. “Listen to me Peter, _we’re going to be fine._ ” 

There was sincereness in Tony's eyes and Peter believed his words with all of his heart.

 _Positive thinking,_ he reminded himself. _Everything will be alright._

 _“Stark, Anthony…”_ A heavily accented robotic voice rang out from where FRIDAY’s should have been. Peter watched Tony's eyes widen before he turned back to the controls, his hands hovering over the buttons and switches, unsure of what to do. _“Parker, Peter…”_

Peters eyes roamed the ceiling where the voice seemed to be coming from. _How did they know his name?_

“Mr. Stark, what’s happening?” Peter couldn’t manage to raise his voice above a whisper.

“I… I don’t know.” Mr. Stark sounded confused, and Peter could tell that that genius brain of his was moving a mile a minute. 

Peter took note of the hairs on his arms beginning to raise. His spidey sense had been a dull thrum at the back of his mind but it had been growing steadily for the past minute. Something very bad was about to happen, and Peter knew it.

 _“Rerouting course to HYDRA base 5,”_ The voice stated in its German accent and Peter’s blood ran cold. 

_HYDRA_.

Suddenly, Tony and Peter were lurching to the side as the plane pulled a hard turn and began flying in a different direction. 

Tony jumped out of his chair and pounded his fists into the control panel. “No! No no no no, this can’t be happening.” He started to push more buttons again but they did nothing. “I’ve lost all control of the plane.” He panted and turned to look at Peter with terror on his face. “This can’t be happening.” he protested again before he turned and jogged out of the cockpit. Peter immediately followed after him.

“Mr. Stark, what are we going to do?” Peter asked, trying his best to keep his voice steady as he followed his mentor to the back of the plane. The hairs on his arms were standing straight up now. He watched as Tony pressed a button on the wall, but nothing happened.

He punched it hard. “Come on! Open up!” He shouted before hitting the door again.

“Mr. Stark, I could break it for you, if you need something from back there,” Peter started to offer. There was obviously something back there that Tony needed. 

Tony sighed and dragged his hands down his face before smiling weakly at him. “Thanks kiddo, but it’s no use. My suit is back there, but we’ve lost FRIDAY completely. Even if we did manage to bring it down I wouldn’t be able to activate my armour.”

Peter’s brain was slowly coming back online now that the situation had settled in. 

“So we don’t have any control anymore, what about manual?” Peter reasoned and Tony’s eyebrows raised slowly as he thought. He pushed past Peter and went back to the cockpit, Peter following him once again. 

Tony grabbed ahold of the steering lever and pushed it lightly. 

Nothing happened, and Peters heart fell.

Tony didn’t seem to be deterred and he hummed before squatting down underneath the panel and grabbing onto different wires. 

“...What are you doing?” Peter asked tentatively, squatting down beside his mentor.

Tony reached inside the panel and pulled something out before discarding it onto the floor. “You gave me an idea…” he grunted, sticking his arm back up inside the cockpit control panel. “... we don’t have manual control, _but_ , I designed this aircraft's computer system. I knew that there was always a chance that something could happen to FRIDAY and her system could go offline, so I put in a back up plan… well, it’s not much of one but it’s something.” 

Peter heard something click next to him, and the next moment the lights had turned back on. 

Then they fizzled and went back out again. 

“You did something right, Mr. Stark.” Peter commented, feeling relief as he watched Tony at work. He had seen it before, but he had never seen Tony work under so much pressure. They were being brought to an enemy base, and they didn’t know how much longer they had left before they got there. 

All of a sudden electricity was buzzing and sparks were flying out from underneath the panel where Tony was working. Tony let out a yelp and Peter quickly grabbed his ankles and pulled him out hastily.

Tony seemed to be unhurt, and he quickly sat up looking frazzled. Peter didn’t have time to ask him if he was okay before the man was up on his feet again.

“Their stupid bitch of a computer shut me out!” He sat back down in the pilot's chair and grabbed the lever. “...but I think I managed to get some control back…” He pulled downwards gently, and the plane shifted up a fraction.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down beside him. “Can you get us somewhere safe? How much fuel do we have left?” 

Tony glanced down at the panel before answering, “I can’t tell… their computer has locked up and frozen all of the other controls and diagnostics. All I have is steering.”

“But we should have enough for a couple more hours right? We had enough to get all the way to Japan.”

“I don’t know. Their computer has control over literally _everything_ , if they wanted to cut power on the engines they could. It depends on how badly they want us alive.” 

Peter took in a stuttering breath. His spider senses had been dialed to eleven for a while now and he could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe.

“What can we do then?” 

“All I can do is go up and down,” Tony demonstrated by slanting the planes direction with his words and Peter smiled lightly at the feeling of rolling over hills. “... and side to side.” Peter was expecting to feel the plane start to twist with Mr. Starks words but nothing happened. He looked over at the older man to see a frown on his face. “Apparently we can only go up and down.” He laughed humorlessly, “That’s just great.”

The way Peter could see it, they only had two options. Either fly forward until they ran out of fuel and crashed, or fly forward before HYDRA decided to cut their power and they dropped out of the sky. Neither option was ideal, but they had to make a choice, and they had to make it fast. 

There seemed to be no way to escape. Even if they had parachutes Peter knew that with the jet engines located so close to the doors, if they jumped out they would likely get sucked in and... Peter didn’t want to think about that. 

They were trapped.

Tony turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at him sincerely. “Peter, do you trust me?” 

“Y-yes.” Peter answered without hesitation and Tony smiled sadly.

He sucked in a breath. “I’m going to have to crash the plane.” 

Peter pulled himself out of Tonys grasp. “What?” he breathed.

“It’s the only way I can guarantee that we will have a chance of surviving, and staying out of their hands. I can’t let them get you.” Tony regarded him with sad eyes that Peter was slightly confused by. 

He didn’t know much about HYDRA, just that they were bad guys who did science experiments and killed a lot of people. 

_Oh god, would they experiment on him?_

“Hey, I need you to look at me.” Peter turned his pale face to meet the eyes of his mentors. “I’m going to do it as gently as possible but there’s still a big chance of…” He paused to swallow. “If something happens to me, you’re going to have to try and get the-”

“Tony, nothing’s going to happen to you. To either of us.” 

Tony nodded weakly. “Right, right. Are you ready?”

_No._

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tom Holland looks like one of those whities who claps when the plane lands


	3. Crash landings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter collided into Tony's chest as the two were sent backwards, both having lost their grip. Strong arms wrapped around his smaller frame and held him close as Peter tried to breathe through the shock and pain. He opened his eyes to the sight of blood on Tony's neck before something connected with the back of his head and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, long time no posts amirite? Sorry, it's been a while but here's a new chapter so please don't be mad uwu.
> 
> Also I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to leave me a few kind words and also everyone who is supporting this fic! It really does mean the world to me:) 
> 
> I hate to say it, but it may be a little while until my next update again just because I have a lot of university auditions coming up and I still need to memorize some monologues. Just know that I have quite the plan and many ideas for this story so it won't be abandoned. I'm just slow lol.
> 
> WARNING for blood and the beginning of some slight gore

“Buckle up, kid.” Tony ordered, rolling out his shoulders and readjusting his grip on the handles. Peter did exactly as he was told, doing up the dual seat belt in a split second and grabbing onto the arms of the chair with a white-knuckle grip. Peter thought that if he held the chair any tighter it would snap under his strength. 

He glanced over at his mentor who was buckling himself in as well. Tony had beads of sweat coating his forehead that was creased in determination. The older man seemed to be trying to settle himself and Peter looked away, instead focusing his gaze onto the sight underneath of him. 

There was nothing but green. 

Peter couldn’t see anything but trees that spread across the ground and disappeared into the horizon. There were no signs of civilization anywhere, and the woods appeared to continue for all eternity. If they survived the crash, there would be nowhere for them to go to, nowhere to take refuge, and no place to get help. Peter didn’t even know what country they were in, but it didn’t matter. They would be lost either way.

“M- Mr. Stark…” Peter started but couldn’t finish his train of thought. He didn’t want to die like this, he couldn’t leave May or his friends. He couldn’t leave Mr. Stark all alone in the woods. 

The situation had escalated so fast, Peter was still trying to wrap his head around all the facts. 15 minutes ago they had been playing checkers. Now they were going to be apart of an induced airplane crash and possibly kill themselves in the process. There was nothing that could have possibly prepared, or warned him of this outcome. No one, not even Tony Stark, who was one of the smartest people on the planet had seen this coming. 

Peter had just wanted a fun trip to Japan with Tony. 

Some birthday this was turning out to be. 

“We’re going to be alright kiddo, we’re going to be just fine.” Tony comforted without looking at Peter. The man seemed to be consoling himself as well with his words. 

Just as Peter was about to look away from his mentor, Tony turned his head and locked eyes with him. Tony didn’t say anything; he didn’t need to. Peter understood exactly what Tony was searching for. He was seeking out Peters permission. He wouldn’t bring down the plane if Peter didn’t want him to, and Peter almost told him not to. After all, Peter was petrified of meeting the same fate as his parents, but he knew what the smartest decision was. 

It was better to go down fighting then by will of your enemy. 

Peter steeled himself and nodded sharply towards the older man; words were not needed as the bond between the two grew tighter. 

“Here we go then.” Tony grunted and without any further hesitation, he forced the lever upright. 

Peter was suddenly thrown backwards into his seat and his head rebounded painfully off the back of his padded chair as the jet plummeted downwards. The air was sucked out of his lungs and all the blood in his body rushed to his backside as gravity tried it’s best to pull them closer to the earth's surface. 

Peter wholeheartedly believed that this was the end for him. The ground was getting closer and closer, and approaching at an alarming rate. Peter clenched his eyes shut in apprehension, hoping that it would be painless. There was nothing to block out the sound of wind whipping violently right outside the window, amplified due to his powers and causing Peter to think that his head was about to explode.

Tony pulled up at the last second with a shout. Peter opened his eyes to see his mentor struggling to hold the lever at an even level, muscles bulging as he fought with gravity to force the plane back onto an even axis with the surface of the forest. 

Peter gulped in air greedily to ease the burning sensation in his lungs. Finally able to breathe again, he attempted to undo his seat belt to get out and help Tony. Peter knew that he could easily hold the lever in place for his mentor, but when he pulled his head off the back of the seat he was hit with a wave of lightheadedness which caused his hands to fumble around the buckle. 

“Stay where you are.” Tony ordered through clenched teeth as Peters momentary dizziness subsided. The man must have seen Peter moving out of the corner of his eye and knew he was going to try doing something stupid. Peter only wanted to help. 

Before Peter could respond, the belly of the plane skimmed the green tendrils of the tree tops below. It started with a few branches snapping before whole trees were being split into chunks as the plane quickly descended into their domain. The plane itself had started to rumble as it lowered itself deeper into the brush; the tremors only growing more intense the lower it got. Peter was suddenly glad that he had left his seat belt on. If he hadn’t, he would have been tossed around the inside of the plane like pinball.

The sound of metal scraping against something very solid filled Peters ears, signifying to him that they were getting closer to the ground. Bits and pieces of wood and stone were being flung everywhere and Peter was relieved that there weren’t any nearby civilizations. Anybody nearby would surely have been hurt, or maybe even killed. 

Something suddenly came up from under the nose of the plane and bounced of the windshield, cracking it. Peters eyes widened in fear as he watched the crack slowly begin to elongate across the rest of the large window. 

Out of nowhere, hands were upon him. They started tugging the safety belt off of his body and pulling on his arm. “Peter, we have to get out of here!” Tony raised his voice over top of the sound of the engines and body of the plane being ripped apart. The noise of metal tearing was nearly deafening for Peter as he scrambled out of his chair. 

Tony forced Peters body in front of him and folded over top of the smaller form protectively. They had taken a single step outside of the cockpit when the windshield shattered and glass was abruptly showering them from behind. Peter raised his hands to cover his face and eyes as a few of the windows in the passenger part of the plane blew out as well. 

They continued their trek forward until the plane lurched violently, causing the two to lose their footing and fall forward. Peter stuck out his hands to catch his descent but winced in pain as shards of broken glass embedded themselves into his palms. 

Tony landed beside him but instantly slid away as the plane continued to motor onwards. Peter panicked at the sight and immediately reached out and snagged a hold of his mentors wrist before he could body-slam into the mess of glass, tables, and random pieces of the plane that were piling up at the back of the passenger section. The glass shards in his hand burrowed deeper into his flesh at the action but Peter ignored the pain; instead focusing on using his spider powers to keep himself firmly glued to the floor, and from sliding away like Tony had. 

Tony grabbed his wrist back, but Peter didn’t loosen his hold, too afraid of something knocking Tony out of his grip if he let down his guard. Peter knew that he was currently the only thing keeping Tony from sustaining a major injury, and wasn’t going to take any chances. 

There were still things flying in through the front of the plane at dangerous speeds and Peter turned his face away from it, not wanting to damage his eyes or head which was wide open to the danger. Instead, he focused his eyes onto Tony, who seemed to be trying to grab a hold of one of the airplane seats. Peter recognized it to be the one Tony was sitting in earlier. 

The chairs were all welded into the frame of the plane, and was probably the most secure object to hold onto other than Peter. It was also out of the way of any airborne objects, which was a benefit that Peter didn’t have claim to. He was lucky that only small pieces of debris and splinters of wood were pricking at his exposed skin, and nothing heavy had flown inside yet. He was also acting as a shield for Tony, taking all the blows so the older man wouldn’t have to. 

The momentum of the plane was starting to decrease, but Peter knew that they weren’t out of danger yet. He tried his best to gently swing Tony to the safety of the chair but the plane hit another large bump that had Peter losing his grip on his mentor and the floor. 

Peter collided into Tony's chest as the two were sent backwards, both having lost their grip. Strong arms wrapped around his smaller frame and held him close as Peter tried to breathe through the shock and pain. He opened his eyes to the sight of blood on Tony's neck before something connected with the back of his head and everything went black. 

 

Tony came to quickly, scrunching his nose as he was pulled back to consciousness. He didn’t remember passing out, but it had obviously happened at some point. The plane was sitting still at last, it had felt like it had taken hours for it to stop moving. He breathed a sigh of relief, _it was over now_ , he thought to himself. 

He shifted his body and grimaced at the soreness and tenderness of his joints and muscles. He had yet to open his eyes, instead depending on his sense of touch to assess any damage he had sustained. Nothing felt like it was broken, and the only major source of pain was coming from his left arm. 

Tony finally blinked open his eyes. 

He was laying on his back at the rear end of the plane, his exposed skin was littered with various scrapes, cuts and forming bruises. The place was also a total wreck. There was glass and plastic and wood strewn about the floor, and almost everything had been upturned and had shifted to the back of the plane. The walls were dented and even some of the chairs were bent at an odd angle. The faint scent of smoke filled Tony’s nostrils as he inhaled deeply at the sight. 

The state of his private jet could wait- he hadn’t expected it to come out in good shape anyway. No, Tony was looking around for something priceless, and couldn’t find it anywhere. 

Peter was nowhere in sight and Tony immediately panicked, trying to get up at once but found that he couldn’t even sit up. Something was pinning him down. A glance to his left solved his mystery, and explained the source of the pain that he could feel in his arm. 

A large slab of metal had fallen on top of him at some point, crushing his left arm into the floor and effectively keeping him immobile. Further examination provided evidence to Tony that the metal sitting on him had used to be apart of the cabinet that had, once upon a time, held a variety of games that he had picked out for a certain spiderling to play- a spiderling that Tony desperately needed to locate as soon as possible. 

He had to get his arm unstuck before he could start doing anything. Tony wiggled his fingers, glad that he still had mobility even if the feeling was almost gone. He tried to pull but stopped shortly after as a jolt of agony ran down his arm. 

“‘Okay, let’s not do that again.” He hissed in pain as the feeling dissipated, and opted to gently wiggle his arm out instead. He was met with the same fate, but continued to try and unwedge his arm in different ways, each time eliciting the same intense pain as all the previous attempts. 

Tony flopped over onto his back with a groan of frustration, pounding his free fist into the ground as he did so. He was out of breath due to his ministrations and he could feel his body protesting at the further abuse. He needed to get his arm unstuck and find Peter. The kid could be in trouble or _hurt_ , and Tony needed to get to him fast. 

He was bracing himself for another attempt at freeing his arm, when a soft moan from nearby had him stopping altogether. 

He rolled onto his back again, eyes searching wildly for the source of the small noise. “Pete?” Tony whispered the kids name, wary of any response he would receive, but none came. Tony didn’t dare breathe, praying to god that the sound wasn’t a trick of the mind. 

A subtle movement caught his attention, and along with it came another quiet grunt and Tony finally landed his eyes on his kid. 

“Peter! Kid, oh my god…” He struggled against his metal bond even though he knew it was in vain. There was no way he could get out on his own and all he was doing was causing himself more pain. However, nothing else mattered to Tony. To him, there was no greater pain then seeing the back of your kids head matted with fresh blood. 

The only part of Peter that Tony could see was the back of his head. The rest of his body was hidden behind a table that had landed in between them acting like a divider between the two. Peter also lay a few meters away from Tony and was surrounded by debris. The kids chestnut coloured head almost blended in perfectly with his surroundings, but Tony still kicked himself for not noticing Peter earlier. 

“Peter, come on… you’ve gotta wake up now buddy…” Tony tried to coax Peter awake and watched as his head started to perk slightly at the sound of his name being called. Tony almost laughed in relief when Peter rolled over and his eyes cracked open to stare blankly at the ceiling of the plane. 

Then they fluttered back shut. 

“No no no, Pete, you can’t fall back asleep,” Tony begged, but Peter made no further movements. “Come on kid, I need you to stay awake…” Peter continued to breathe deeply from where he lay out of reach of Tony, but made no more signs of waking up. 

Tony sighed and resigned himself, before spotting a fallen checkers piece from within the pile of debris that circled him. He reached out and grabbed a hold of it, ignoring the pain in his arm that the motion caused. Once he had it in his free hand he took aim and tossed the small game piece at Peter. 

It lightly bounced off the boys cheekbone and fell to the side of Peters head. His face furrowed and he tossed his head lightly in annoyance at Tony's antics. 

Pleased at this reaction, Tony picked up another nearby piece and threw it again. It bounced off Peters forehead this time and Peter huffed out an angry breath that ensued a small coughing fit. When he was finished his eyes opened and formed into small slits. 

“Hey kiddo, are you with me now?” Tony called gently and Peter turned his head towards him, giving Tony full view of his face. The side that he couldn’t see before was painted red, and Peters right eye was plastered half shut with blood. 

Peter coughed weakly again. “Mr. St- Stark?” Peter croaked and rolled onto his side, grimacing in pain.

“Yeah, it’s me. How do you feel bud?” 

Peter shifted and slowly sat up, looking over himself as he did so. “I think I’m okay…” He rubbed at his forehead, smearing more blood across it. Peters hands appeared to be covered in the substance as well. “... Head kinda hurts though…” One of Peters hands traveled to the back of his head and prodded at his scalp. He pulled away sharply at the contact with a gasp and an agitated face. 

Tony ignored the look for the time being. He was starting to lose feeling in his arm. “Can you walk kiddo? I need you to come here,” he asked once Peter had calmed.

Peter nodded and finally took in the sight of his mentor laying on the floor, partially crushed underneath a slab of metal. His eyes widened and he instantly began trying to stand. 

“Oh my god, Mr. Stark, are you okay?!” Peter exclaimed groggily, as he clambered to his feet. He had been upright for approximately half a second before he tilted dangerously and his face lost all colour. He managed to catch himself on the fallen table before he could collapse back onto the glass coated floor. 

“Take it easy Peter, I’m fine.” Tony tried to ease Peters conscience as he watched the kid stumble around like a drunk man before falling to his knees beside Tony. “I’m alright, my arm’s just stuck.” 

Peter wasted no time in sticking his bloodied hands underneath the slab and hoisting the metal upwards, tossing it to the side like it weighed nothing and returning back to his mentors side. 

Tony had thrown his head back into the floor, and had to clench his jaw shut to keep himself from screaming in pain as the feeling of something being ripped from his arm encompassed him. Tony had to squeeze his eyes shut as agony rippled through him and something warm and wet ran down his bicep. 

Tony pulled his wounded limb closer to him once the weight was gone and forced his eyes back open at the sound of Peters gasp. 

A chunk of the metal cabinet had come loose when it had collapsed and a fragment of it had found its way into the meat of Tony's arm. He couldn’t really feel it before, but now that Peter had pulled the metal out of him it was hard to ignore the crimson liquid that was spilling out of the wound at a rapid pace. 

“Uh, um, Mr. Stark... don’t move!” Peters frantic voice pulled him out of his stupor, and he watched the kid leap up from his spot beside him and stagger towards the cockpit where he knew their tiny first aid kit was located. Tony knew that it was stocked to the brim with medical supplies, but he wasn’t sure if it would be enough to take care of the both of them.

Tony pulled himself into a sitting position, holding his bleeding arm with an extremely tight grip but blood still seeped through it. Peter was back at his side the next instant with the white box of first aid utensils. 

“Mr. Stark, you should lay back down… we have to stop the bleeding.” Peter opened the box and rummaged through its contents with shaking hands. The kid seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating, and Tony couldn’t let that happen. 

“It’s alright, it’s alright. It’s not even that deep.” Tony smiled weakly as Peter found the sterile gauze dressings and tore them out of their packaging. Tony had reached out a hand to take it from him but Peter ignored him, instead removing Tony's hand from the injury and placing the gauze there himself, glaring at Tony as he did so.

“I’m not a child, even though you treat me like one. You don’t have to lie to me, Tony.” Peters eyes were glossy with unshed tears but his voice was steady and firm. Tony was taken aback at his choice of words. _He had called him Tony._

Peter pulled the gauze away slightly and bit his lip at the sight. “How do we know if it needs stitches?” 

Tony reached for more gauze and some medical tape from the kit as he was starting to soak through the one that Peter was holding against him. 

“We don’t have time for stitches Peter, we have to get out of here as soon as possible.” He knocked Peters hand away from his bleeding bicep to apply more bandages himself, watching as Peter hesitantly pulled his hands away. 

“But-” Peter started but Tony cut him off.

“No buts Peter. HYDRA is probably sending search parties for us as we speak. Where do you think they're going to look first?” Tony questioned as he hastily patched himself up, talking to distract himself from the pain. 

“Here.” Peter answered him, sounding scared.

“Exactly. And, we don’t know where their base is or how long we’ve been out for. We have to move _now_.” Peter nodded jerkily and stood up blinking rapidly to clear his head rush. The kid didn’t say anything about it, but Tony noticed all the same. 

Deciding not to say anything about it, Tony pulled himself to his feet as well. Peter reached out a hand to help steady him but pulled away suddenly with a cry. He pulled his hands close to his chest and hunched in on himself protectively.

“Peter, what’s wrong?” Tony pulled at his wrists gently to reveal what the cause of Peters pain was. 

Peter winced, “My hands…” he opened his palms to expose the array of glass embedded into his skin. 

“Oh kiddo…” Tony muttered. They didn’t have time to fix this, just like they didn’t have time to properly patch up Tony’s arm. His heart yearned to do something, but he knew that they had to leave, or else they could find themselves in a situation much worse than their current one. 

“I know, Mr. Stark.” Peter agreed much to Tony's displeasure. “We’ve got to go.” Peter flashed a pained smile. Tony found himself pulling Peter into a one armed hug due to his injuries. 

“I’ll take care of you kiddie. I’ll fix you right up when we find safe shelter.” He assured, speaking right into Peter's ear that was also coated in blood. Tony hoped that the kids head injury wouldn’t steadily get worse as some did. He needed to have him alert in case of danger. 

“I know Mr. Stark.” Peter sniffled into his shoulder, “I’m gonna take care of you too.”

Tony didn’t doubt that for a second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also I want everyone to know that I live in Canada and one of our heaters in our house broke so I wrote this with barely any feeling in my fingers. I'm gonna blame all my typos on that fact


	4. Into the woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only thing Peter had to focus on was the crunching of wood and dirt under his feet and the heat of the sun beating down on his bare skin. It was nice to feel a cool breeze tousle his hair every now and then but it also carried the smell of smoke from the rubble they had left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a bit short but let's just say that it serves as the calm before the storm eheheheh

Tony didn’t know what he did to deserve Peter Parker, but he was eternally grateful and in debt to whoever had placed this kid in his life. He rubbed a few circles into Peters back before pulling himself out of their small embrace. 

“You didn’t happen to bring your suit did you?” Tony asked, eyeing the kids face for any more signs of injury.

Peter shook his head, “No I didn’t.” Tony bit his lip and looked away. He had a feeling that Peter wouldn’t have brought it but he hoped that he would have. Without FRIDAY they still could’ve used Karen to contact Steve and the other avengers. Not to mention the Spider-man suit was fitted with lots of other helpful technologies that would have assisted them greatly. 

“Sorry…” Peter started but Tony shushed him, lost in thought. Peters face suddenly lit up, “but I did bring my web shooters!” 

“Did you?” Peter nodded eagerly before stopping and grabbing his head with a wince, eyes clenched shut painfully. Tony immediately grabbed onto his shoulders and pushed him to the ground, worry for his kid spiking when he was met with no resistance. “Take it easy kiddo…” He gently prodded the back of Peters scalp with his good arm and found a large bump that he assumed was the source of the blood coating half of Peter's face. 

“Just sit tight Peter, I think you’re concussed.” He diagnosed as he warily pulled his hand away. Moving through the forest with them both injured like this was going to be extremely difficult. All they had to rely on was each other, Peter's web shooters, Tony’s wrist gauntlet and the fact that FRIDAY had sent Steve a distress signal before she went offline. 

“It’s okay, I’m okay…” Peter mumbled as Tony guided his head between his knees. 

“I know you are kiddie.” Tony smiled softly before straightening up, struck with an idea. He hurriedly made his way to the cabin, knowing that they didn’t have much time left to spend here. 

“Where are you- what are you doing?” Peter asked quietly from his spot on the floor. He perked his head up slightly to watch his mentor work. 

Tony ducked back underneath the panel that he had been tampering with after the plane was initially hacked. He had to hold back a cry of pain as he lowered himself down on his injured arm, already having forgotten about his own wounds. He cursed at his stupidity before reaching his good arm up inside the panel.

“FRIDAY sent out a distress signal to the avengers before she got kicked out by HYDRA…” He spoke to Peter as he fumbled his hand through the jungle of wires and metal inside the panel in search of one piece in particular. 

“Yeah, I know Mr. Stark. They’re gonna be coming for us right?” Peter questioned, sounding unsure.

“Oh, you betcha. Steve’s probably loading his stubborn ass into a quinjet with the rest of the team as we speak.” Tony hummed his reassurance as he found what he was looking for. 

In all reality, the team probably _was_ tracking their location but there was no way of knowing if they had received FRIDAYs message. If they did, then they were not only tasked with finding them, but also figuring out how to rescue them without getting the quinjet hijacked as well. 

There was no telling if the avengers even knew they were dealing with HYDRA or if they were going to be able to create an unhackable jet with their technological genius stranded in a random european forest. 

Tony could only hope and place all his bets on the idea that the avengers were on their way. 

He had to, because Peters life depended on it. 

He wrapped his fingers around the small box in his hand as he gently tried to untangle and disconnect it from all the wires attached to it. It was a challenge to do so with the use of only one hand, but Tony managed to remove it in one piece. 

“Please don’t let it be broken…” Tony muttered as he slowly pulled out the piece and turned it over in his hands. 

A soft blinking blue light indicated to Tony that the dispatch communicator was still in pristine condition. With this, the avengers could track their position instead of the planes as they moved throughout the forest. 

He breathed a sigh of relief as he pushed himself off the ground and returned back to Peters side. With the communicator safely pocketed, they only needed to grab a few more things before they could leave. 

They were going to have to leave behind the majority of their things, including Tony's iron man suit. Tony didn’t like that idea one bit, but there was absolutely _no_ way he was going to make himself or Peter cart around the large metal suit. It was useless without FRIDAY to activate it anyway.

Peters head popped up from his knees as he heard Tony's approaching footsteps and he smiled softly at the sight of the older man. Tony’s mind eased a little as he looked Peter over and he seemed to be in less pain, and not dizzy anymore. 

“Alright Spider-boy, it’s time to move out.” He reached out a hand to snag ahold of Peters wrist and hoisted the kid up onto his feet. Peter swayed the moment he was upright and Tony hastily grabbed onto his shoulders to hold him still. 

“Steady buddy, you’re okay.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Peter blinked a few times before meeting Tony's worried gaze. “What was that you grabbed?” 

Once Tony was sure Peter wasn’t going to fall over he removed his injured arm off Peters shoulder. He needed to be more careful with it and could already feel the bandages starting to soak through. 

“Dispatch communicator. FRIDAYs distress signal went uninterrupted and the avengers can track us with it.” He pulled it out of his pocket and flashed Peter with it before stuffing it back inside. They didn’t have anymore time to waste inside the plane. “You didn’t happen to bring a backpack with you by chance?”

Peter narrowed his eyebrows questioningly, “Um, yeah I did. Why?”

“We’re gonna need it.”

 

Mr. Stark had Peter kick in the door to the storage unit because he didn’t want Peter using his hands again until they fixed them. 

Afterwards, he located Peters backpack and emptied out of all of Peter's stuff. He started filling it up with some of the snacks that they had brought along with them and left in some sweaters incase it got cold. 

As Tony filled the bag with necessities Peter realized that there were things to do and he shouldn’t just stand around watching his mentor do all the work. Instead, he went and found his suitcase and retrieved his web shooters. 

A sense of safety washed over him as he fastened them onto his wrists, and he was more than grateful that he had brought them along. 

Peters hands stung painfully and he could feel his skin starting to heal around some of the deeper cuts. He knew that he shouldn’t mess around with glass because he could easily push the shards further inside, but he couldn’t stand not being able to use his hands any longer. A glance behind him told Peter that Tony wasn’t looking his way. He silently berated himself for what he was about to do before removing some of the larger pieces himself, leaving the smaller shards to Mr. Stark and his tweezers. 

“Kid!” Peter whipped around, panicked that Tony had seen what he was doing but he wasn’t looking at him and didn’t seem angry. The movement only caused another small wave of dizziness and his head to pound even more. “Let’s go!” Tony was trying and failing to put on Peters backpack with his crippled arm. 

“No, no, Mr. Stark, stop it!” Peter was by his side in seconds tearing the bag off of the man's shoulders so he wouldn’t hurt himself anymore. “I’ve got it, I’ve got it.” 

He tried to pull the bag out of Tonys grip but the man wouldn’t let go.

“Peter-” Tony started but Peter cut him off with a strong tug that effectively ripped the bag out of Tonys hands. 

“I said _I’ve got it_.” He hugged the bag close to his chest protectively and glared at Tony, daring him to try and take the bag away. If he thought that for one second, Peter was going to let him further aggravate his wounds and do all the work for him, Tony had another thing coming. 

Peter was fiercely protective of his mentor and his feelings for the older man were only amplified at the sight of him in pain. 

He knew that Tony was trying his best to hide the fact that he was hurting, and Peter was determined to care for him to the best of his abilities. He knew that Tony was doing the same for him. 

“Alright then champ, let's get out of here.” Tony put up no more fights and watched Peter shrug the bag up onto his shoulders with soft eyes. 

Peter clicked together the small buckle straps on his chest that secured the backpack to his body. He then proceeded to wiggle around, testing and demonstrating the durability of the clasps. When he was satisfied he looked back up towards his mentor with a grin.

“There. Now it won’t fall off.” He stated proudly as Tony laughed and spun him around with his good arm. 

“That’s great kiddo now _let’s go_.” He nudged Peter gently towards the plane cockpit, instead of where the door was located. 

“Um, Mr. Stark, why’re we going this way?” Tony continued to guide Peter to the front of the plane.

“We don’t have power so the door won’t open up. I need you to save your energy so we’re going out the only open exit… Watch your step buddy…” He directed Peter around the large piles of broken glass that scattered the floor of the cabin before pushing him up onto the panel and out onto the front of the plane.

The sun was nearly blinding for Peter as he clambered out onto the hood of the plane. The hot metal was burning his skin through his pants as he offered a hand to Tony and pulled him out of the wreckage as well. 

After making sure Tony was secure, Peter stood up slowly as his head throbbed and simply walked down the side of the side of the plane until he was close enough to the ground to unstick himself from the metal, and jump down. 

Peter was so happy to back back on the solid ground of the earth that he could’ve kissed it. 

He stepped away from the plane and looked up towards the nose where his mentor still sat. 

He waved a hand at him. “Come on down!” 

Peter couldn’t tell if Tony was glaring at him or squinting because of the sun. “In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have spider themed powers and can’t just walk down the side like a lunatic.” 

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that… jump!”

“No.” 

Peter laughed and raised his arms upwards. “Come down son.” He giggled despite the situation and as Tony’s glare intensified. 

Tony suddenly sighed and butt-scooched towards the dip of the planes side. For a moment, Peter believed that Tony was actually going to jump into his arms before his mentor simply slid down the side and landed with a thud in front of him. 

“Oh. Yeah that works too I guess.” Peter grunted as Tony stumbled forward from his momentum and Peter caught him in his arms. “Are you okay?” He asked quietly as his mentor straightened himself back up. Peter was afraid of the answer. Tony wasn’t looking so great anymore, his face had lost more colour and Peter could see fresh blood oozing through the bandages they had applied earlier.

“I’m alright, I’m alright.” Tony uttered his reassurance as he patted Peters shoulder affectionately. “But I will be so much better once we put this shit behind us.” He gestured towards their once gorgeous private jet, now destroyed beyond repair. 

“Okay.” Peter nodded and contemplated helping Tony walk forward as he looked like he was about 2 seconds away from passing out. He eventually decided against it as Tony shouldered past him, beckoning him to follow after him as they began their trek down the only logical route to take. 

It was obvious to both of them to travel along the long path that the plane had cut through the woods instead of going any other direction. If they went anywhere else they could be potentially leading themselves to the HYDRA base that their plane had been headed towards. 

 

They had been walking for almost ten minutes when Peter became sick of the silence. 

As someone who had been born and raised in a city all his life, Peter found the dead silence of the trees around him very unsettling. He had always thought that forests were full of wildlife and bunnies and deer and all that kind of stuff, but there was nothing around. Some part of his mind reasoned that they would’ve all been scared away by the plane crashing but he was disappointed nonetheless.

The only thing Peter had to focus on was the crunching of wood and dirt under his feet and the heat of the sun beating down on his bare skin. It was nice to feel a cool breeze tousle his hair every now and then but it also carried the smell of smoke from the rubble they had left behind.

Peter was slowly becoming bored, despite the trepidation that their situation carried. So, he did the thing he was best at. 

He talked.

“Hey, Mr. Stark, have you ever seen that really old movie, Stand by me?” 

Tony raised his eyebrows as he looked at him with amusement on his face. “I might have. Why don’t you remind me what happens?” 

“Okay! Well, the movie stars a really super young Wil Wheaton who played Wesley on Star Trek The Next Generation- which is a really great show by the way, and Wil’s like 40 something now, can you believe it!?” 

“Oh I can…” Tony chuckled letting Peter ramble on and on about different films and actors until Peter finally felt his energy start to drain and he stopped. 

They had been walking in silence again for a few minutes when Tony decided to lead Peter into the woods and sat him down by a tree. 

The direct sunlight wasn’t helping Peters head which was aching vehemently, and he had to stifle a whimper as he pulled his legs to his chest and pushed his head to his knees. The pain was shooting down the back of his neck now as well as his entire head and behind his eyes. 

He needed a break.

Fingers carded softly through his bangs, away from the sore spot and he felt Tony sit down beside him after rummaging through the backpack. 

“Pete…” Tony whispered but Peter just groaned in response. He wasn’t ready to move yet. 

“I know you’re hurting, but I need you to drink something please.” Tony coaxed and Peter gently raised his head. 

Tony offered him a bottle of water that he had taken from the plane and Peter took it and drank greedily. He wasn’t sure how long they had been walking for but the sun was low enough now that the trees provided them with thick foliage and closure. The shade felt heavenly against his skin.

“There’s some IBUprofen in this kit, but I don’t think it would do you any good unless you took the whole bottle.” Tony consoled from his spot beside him as he pawed through the first aid kit. 

Peter snuggled his head back down to his knees. “It’s fine. I just need to sleep it off.” 

He heard Tony let out a sad sigh before switching positions and sitting in front of him. Peter knew how frustrated Tony had to be. He knew how much he hated seeing his loved ones in pain and could only imagine how Tony felt in this moment, unable to do anything to help him feel better.

“Let me see your hands Pete.” Tony ordered and Peter complied without moving his head from its resting point. 

A calloused hand took a hold of his own and held his palm open while the other worked at removing the glass from his skin. Tony worked quickly, trying his best to make the ordeal as painless as possible for Peter but it was a difficult task because his hands had started healing around the intrusions. 

Peter made no sound as Tony fixed his hands, only gasping and holding his breath when a particularly deep one was removed. When Tony was finished he wiped his hands down with an antiseptic cloth causing Peter to finally pull his head up with a grimace and a hiss of pain. 

Tony let go of his hands and Peter pulled them into his chest as the stinging sensation dulled. 

Peter watched as Tony started cleaning up the first aid utensils in confusion. 

“Wait, what are you doing? What about you?” Peter questioned as he pulled himself to his feet with the assistance of the tree he had been resting against.

“What about me? I’m fine.” Tony avoided eye contact and tried to put the first aid kit back inside Peters backpack. 

Peter stepped away from him. “No you’re not.” 

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, Tony with an unreadable expression on his face, and Peter with concern flowing off him in waves. Tony made another attempt to put the kit away but Peter dodged him again. 

“Peter, stop it. I told you I’m fine-”

“No, Mr. Stark, you’re not fine.” Peter countered and Tony visibly deflated, opting to pinch the bridge of his nose with his free hand. 

“Alright, I’m well enough to keep going until we find a safe place to rest.” Peter stayed quiet as Tony tried to persuade him. “We have to find shelter before the sun goes down, and there’s not much time left until that happens, okay?” Tony stepped forward cautiously and Peter made no moves to avoid him.

“Okay?” he asked again as he stepped closer to Peter and Peter folded.

“Okay. But as soon as we find somewhere safe, you’re letting me take care of you.” Peter declared and Tony gave him a grateful look. 

Tony stuffed the first aid kid back inside his backpack. “Sounds good kiddo.” 

They were about to continue moving forward again when a familiar chill raced down Peters spine making him go still with fear. The hair on his arms raised and his eyes flew open at the nonstop chant of _dangerdangerdanger_ and other whispered warnings. 

“Peter… are you okay?” Tony asked with worry etched into his eyes but Peter couldn’t move. 

His spidey-sense was going nuts.

Something bad was about to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I accidentally waterboarded myself in the shower and oh boy does that shit BURN like omg now i know what it feels like to drown


	5. Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Peter- kiddo, look at me…” He cupped the side of Peter's face that was exposed and coaxed his head out from where it was buried in his chest. Peter looked up at him with glossy eyes that shed more tears by the minute, and his face was contorted into a tight grimace. “Peter, what’s wrong?” _How can I fix you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a big chapter so eat up, my children
> 
> more of Peters POV will be in the next chapter

“Peter… are you okay?” Tony asked hesitantly when Peter suddenly froze, not even moving to take a breath. His eyes were blown wide as they frantically darted about, hastily scanning the skyline. 

Tony had been on enough missions with Peter at this point that he knew what Peter's symptoms were indicating. 

The kid called it his ‘Spidey-sense’, which Tony thought was incredibly cheesy but also so adorably _Peter_. Whatever the name for it was didn’t matter, the important part was that his kids sixth sense always predicted oncoming danger, and the look on Peters face told Tony that whatever danger was on its way was sincerely daunting. 

They had to get out of there.

“Come on Pete, we have to keep moving…” Tony gently grabbed Peters wrists and gave him a light tug forward in hopes of physically shaking the kid out of his stupor. 

Peter stepped forward awkwardly. “M-Mr. Stark…” Peters gaze never stopped searching the sky and soon had Tony following suit when the kid made no more signs of moving forward. 

He heard it before he saw anything coming. A quiet buzz emanating from the air. The steady hum of an engine in the sky dulled by distance but gradually getting louder by the second. It was unmistakable.

It sounded like it was coming from the direction of the crash site and heading down the path that the plane had cut through the trees. The same path that Tony and Peter had travelled, and the same path that was only a few meters away from where they stood in apprehension. 

The plant coverage that they had sustained to hide them from the scorching sun would do nothing to disguise them from penetrating eyes or sweeping scanners. The foliage wasn’t thick enough where they stood at the edge of the forest to keep them hidden. 

They would be spotted easily unless… Tony glanced behind himself; away from the rut in the earth that the plane had dug and towards the endless canopy of trees that became denser and darker as it went on and on and on, past what the eye could see. 

Who knew what dangers lay in there. What wild animals and other freaks of nature could be hiding behind a pillar of wood or stone, waiting to pounce, waiting for fresh meat? 

But what choice did they have? 

The aircraft was getting closer and Tony made up his mind. Grabbing ahold of Peters wrist again with a new determination, he pulled the boy forward and roughly shoved him towards the mouth of the forest. Tony didn’t have time to feel bad about his actions.

Peter stumbled then stopped so Tony pushed him forward again with a shout. “Go Peter, run! I’m right behind you.” Peter spared him a panicked look before he took off sprinting with Tony hot on his heels. 

Peter weaved around the trees with ease like a rabbit who had run this path a thousand times before. His feet consistently avoided loose rocks and roots that covered their radom trail, which undoubtedly kept him from losing any speed. Tony on the other hand, had no such grace. Periodically tripping over the uneven ground, Tony was less worried about twisting an ankle then he was with simply keeping up with Peter. 

The kid was _fast_ , and Tony wasn’t getting any younger. 

After nearly twenty minutes of racing through the forest, Peter finally slowed to a walk. He turned back in search of his mentor and an easy smile slid into place when he laid eyes on him. Tony reached out a hand to hold onto his shoulder as they tried to catch their breath together. 

“I think… we’re okay Mr. Stark… I think we... got away.” Peter managed to utter between pants for air. 

Tony rubbed at his chest to ease the tightness and burning sensation. His blood was truly pumping and he could now feel each and every scrape and bruise throbbing in time to the heavy beat of his heart. Sweat cascaded down his body in rivulets, mingling with the fresh blood on his arm. Under normal circumstances the mixture would hurt like a bitch, however he could barely feel the sting under the thick blanket of swollen flesh that was his bicep.

“For now…” he grumbled quietly. They had narrowly purchased escape. Tony believed that if it wasn’t for Peters spider-sense, they would have been caught, or possibly even killed. Who knew what HYDRA wanted with them. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good and Tony didn’t want to stick around to find out. 

So, they kept marching onwards. They walked side by side, Tony with his good hand firmly attached to Peters shoulder incase something were to happen; fearing the moment when HYDRA would come and whisk him away. 

_That’s not going to happen_ , Tony had to remind himself to battle the intrusively negative thoughts. Nothing would ever touch Peter except for loving hands, not while Peter was under his watch. 

But Tony’s health was rapidly deteriorating, and soon it would be more than a challenge to keep Peter protected. 

Every step that Tony took thundered and rattled painfully all the way from the soles of his feet to the crown of his skull. As the adrenaline faded away, exhaustion took its place. He held his arm close to his chest as he and Peter continued to trudge forward, pushing all feelings of pain to the far corners of his mind. 

He had a kid to take care of and he couldn’t have any distractions. 

Peter seemed to be doing alright, the paleness of his face had been replaced with rosy cheeks and the hours that they had spent in the sun had brought out some freckles he didn’t know Peter had. Unfortunately, Tony could tell that Peter was still in pain. 

The kid squinted in the warm glow of the setting sun though Tony knew that there shouldn’t be a problem with Peter's vision. His shoulders had slumped forward with fatigue and his head hung lower than usual. Every now and then, the toe of his sneaker would catch on a strewn branch and he would stumble slightly before snatching his posture back. The fact that he still hadn’t quite caught his breath yet, despite walking for a few minutes now, further demonstrated how badly Peter was faring. 

It was obvious, they couldn’t keep going any longer. They needed to rest.

Tony took the lead as Peter was practically dead on his feet and the sun had almost set completely. The canopy of the trees made it darker inside the forest then it actually was and insects had come out to enjoy the free samples of blood. Tony had activated his wrist gauntlet and walked with his hand poised in front of him, using it more as a flashlight then a weapon, but constantly having to swat at his body each time a bug laid it’s filthy legs on him. 

The entire situation was starting to remind him of Afghanistan. 

The pain. The fatigue. The sweltering heat. The only thing that was different is that he wasn’t trapped in a cave, and there wasn’t a gun or surveillance on him 24/7. But that could certainly all change in an instant if they were caught. 

Tony navigated them through the thick brush for a few more minutes before coming to find shelter in a shallow den or animal burrow in the side of a small hill. It was hard to tell exactly what it was in the darkness, but it was grubby and gross. However, It would work for their first night in the woods as it provided a small overlap which would keep them protected and hidden from their oppressors for the time being. 

He removed Peters backpack before guiding him down to the soft bed of grass and moss that was growing on the ground of the damp underside of the hill. Peter promptly dropped to the ground at the maneuvering, and would have whacked his head off of a rock if Tony's hands hadn't been there to assist him. 

“I’m okay, I’m okay, Mr. Stark.” Peter mumbled into the earth, half-awake. Tony crouched beside him and ruffled his greasy and bloody hair soothingly. 

“I know you are kiddo.” He turned and opened the backpack and pulled out their shared water bottle. He took a sip of it himself before moving to offer it to Peter, but the kid seemed to be conked out. 

He lay on his side, facial features completely relaxed, and body curled into a ball; trembling slightly each time a gentle breeze passed through their little hideout. Tony frowned and reached out a hand to place on Peters forehead, confused as to why his kid would be so cold. Tony had wondered why the heat of the day hadn’t lessoned once the sun went down, but it appeared that he was the only one who still felt affected by it. Tony was aching with heat and could practically feel the unforgiving sun pummeling him from behind, even in the darkness. 

Peter’s temperature felt fine. His skin was cool and their was a light trace of goosebumps on his arms. Tony pulled his hand away with a confused hum. Maybe it wasn’t Peter who was ill... Peters skin felt like heaven against his scorched and sweaty self and it made him just want to lay against him and swap body heat. 

Tony decided _against_ doing that, due to professional reasons of course. After all, it wasn’t like he was the kids dad. He couldn’t just cuddle with Peter if he was feeling too hot, it was just wrong. What if the kid woke up while he was snuggled up next to him, what would he think? He would probably be terrified, Tony thought. Besides, the kid was already traumatised enough after today. 

So, instead he reached into Peter's backpack and pulled out one of their sweaters, not knowing whose he had grabbed in the darkness. Tony didn’t care if it was his own or not- he didn’t need one anyway. He draped it over Peters snoozing form and tucked it underneath him so no bugs could crawl up on him during the night. 

He sat quietly under the shade of the moonlight watching Peter sleep contentedly for a few moments before his own exhaustion threatened to drown him. His eyelids felt like they had weights attached to them and with every blink they only got heavier and heavier. Before he knew it, Tony was jerking his head upright as his chin grazed against his chest.

He couldn’t fall asleep. Someone needed to keep watch in case more HYDRA soldiers decided to rear their ugly heads. With Peter already unconscious, there was nobody but Tony to guard his precious cargo. 

Tony awkwardly scooted into a new position that would hopefully provide him with some comfort, and relief for his pain filled body. He moved himself so he was pressed up against the solid wall of earth and crossed his legs underneath himself. He grabbed ahold of Peters backpack and stuffed it into his lap so that they would be completely out of sight from a birds eye view. 

As soon as he was settled he felt a hard surface start to gently burrow into his thigh. He glanced down to see Peters head nestled into his leg, seeking out his warmth and comfort even while unconcious. 

Tony's heart threatened to burst at the sight and he tenderly reached out an arm to wrap around Peters shoulders. This kid was worth more to him then any of his creations or his billions of dollars he had in the bank, and he was determined to protect him to the best of his abilities until he simply couldn’t any longer. 

But as much as Tony tried, he couldn't outrun the purely primal need for sleep and after guarding Peter diligently for almost an hour, his body finally succumbed to the call. 

 

He awoke to the sounds of whines and pained moans coming from a warm body pressed up against him.

Tony sat up with a start as the previous days events caught up with him. He had accidentally fallen asleep during the night and now soft rays of light permeated the leaves over head and decorated the ground in warm fractals. It was an almost ethereal sight. 

He had slumped over in his sleep and had ended up wedged between the underside of the hill and Peters body. Dew sat on every strand of hair on his head and soothed his still hot skin with its coolness. His arm had inevitably swelled up even more during the night and Tony had the sickening realization that he hadn’t taken care of it properly yet. It would now be infected, which would provide reason to why he felt so hot. _Fever_.

Another small whimper escaped the lips of the boy laying next to him, and Tony had eyes on him instantly, forgetting about his issues entirely. 

“Peter?” Tony spoke his name softly and rested a tentative hand on his kids shoulder worry slowly creeping up on him from behind. Peters back was towards him and Tony couldn’t see his face. The kid was laying in a tight ball, muscles tense and hands gripping the sides of his stomach tightly. 

Peter only sniffled in response to his name being called and pulled his body into an impossibly tighter ball. 

Tony awkwardly crawled around to Peters other side to see him better. Something was wrong with his kid and Tony was about to freak out at the sight of him suffering. 

“Peter- kiddo, look at me…” He cupped the side of Peter's face that was exposed and coaxed his head out from where it was buried in his chest. Peter looked up at him with glossy eyes that shed more tears by the minute, and his face was contorted into a tight grimace. “Peter, what’s wrong?” _How can I fix you?_

“M-my stomach…” Peter whined again and Tony glanced down to the area Peter claimed to be causing the misery. His arms were rigidly wrapped around his abdominal area. “I need t-to eat something.” His voice was strained and Tony suddenly understood that he had _really_ messed up.

He could have facepalmed as Peter slowly rolled over onto his back with a whimper, instead he leapt up to retrieve their backpack. 

_How could he have been so stupid?_ Tony berated himself as he frantically dove into the small bookbag. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday and so neither had Peter. The kid with the super-powered metabolism hadn’t eaten a full meal since before the plane crash which was at least 13 hours ago now, Tony estimated. His stomach must be eating itself alive with hunger. 

Tony felt red hot embarrassment slither up the sides of his neck. He was supposed to be protecting this kid, yet here he was, crying in pain because his mentor had failed to feed him. 

The food that Tony had grabbed before they had left the plane consisted of: One jar of peanut butter, half a loaf of bread (the other half Peter had previously already eaten), a bag of goldfish, and two bottles of water. The bag wasn’t capable of carrying anymore food on top of the sweaters, the dispatch communicator and the first aid kit. 

He hurriedly popped open the jar of peanut butter, glad that he had thought to bring a butter knife along with them. He scooped a hefty amount of peanut butter onto a single slice of bread and practically rammed it into Peter's mouth. 

“Eat up buddy.” Tony ordered, only satisfied when Peter pried one of his hands off of his stomach so he could take the food and took a greedy bite.

Tony used up half the jar of peanut butter on three slices of bread which he all gave to Peter. Only when Peter stopped crying and sat up to eat his food did Tony make himself a slice to eat. They had to be smarter about rationing and keeping themselves fed well enough that they could continue to maneuver through the woods efficiently.

“You still hungry?” Tony asked around the food in his mouth. Peanut butter sandwiches were definitely not Tonys usual breakfast but it was all that they had and so they would have to make do. 

Peter sucked the small remnants of peanut butter off of his fingertips. “Yeah, I’m okay now Mr. Stark.” Peter responded with a gruff morning voice. 

“Good man.” 

They had 11 slices of bread left, half a jar of peanut butter and a full bag of goldfish. He had no idea how long they would be abandoned in these woods for so he wasn’t sure how exactly to ration their food. Tony decided that it would be safest to cut their recent intake down by half, meaning Peter would get a slice and a half of bread three times a day and Tony would get half a slice of bread three times a day, and possibly some goldfish. Maybe if they were lucky they would find some berry bushes, and if not then they would need to turn to hunting. 

“Hey Mr. Stark?” Peter snapped him out of his thoughts. 

“Yeah, bud?” 

“What country do you think we’re in?” Peter scrunched his nose and glanced around at their surroundings as if he would find his answer hidden in the plant life. 

“Um, I’m not exactly sure…” Tony frowned as he thought; his brain clearing out the morning fog as his body digested the much needed food. “FRIDAY had us flying over Switzerland but then we changed courses… my best guess is that we’re somewhere between there and Germany.” 

“Ah…” was all Peter had to say before his stomach growled loudly. His eyes flew open and he slapped a hand over top of it protectively. “Um, did you hear something?” He laughed nervously.

Tony's meager portion of food turned to cement in his stomach at the sound. Peter was still hungry but they couldn’t afford to eat all their food at once. Nothing but sympathy could be felt. “Peter, I- there’s nothing more I can give you-”

“Hey it’s cool Mr. Stark, really.” Tony glared him down at the blatant lie and Peter shrunk back slightly before continuing. “I’m not too hungry anymore… I don’t know why my stomach made that noise.” Peter cleared his throat gracelessly. “I am kinda thirsty though…” He muttered in a poor attempt to change the topic.

Tony held in a sad sigh as he reached into the backpack and pulled out one of their bottles of water. He didn’t want to start an argument with Peter right now, especially since there wasn’t anything he could do to solve the problem. 

“You’re a tough kid. You know that right, Peter?” He smiled dolefully as Peter swallowed some water and screwed the cap back on once he was finished. 

“Yeah, I know.” Peter stated cooly as he passed the bottle back to Tony's hands. “You are too. N-not a kid though! A guy, a real… tough guy.” Peter flashed him one of his pressed lip smiles as he passed the water back. 

Tony barely held back a laugh but couldn’t restrain his facial features from morphing into an amused smirk. “How’re your hands doing kid?” 

Peter gazed down at his hands curiously and inspected both sides of them. “They’re mostly healed… Just give them a few more hours and I’m sure they’ll be all good again.” 

_That was good news_ , Tony thought. “What about your head?”

“Fine Mr. Stark. I’m all good, I swear. Just a bit sore from yesterday, but that’s it, I promise.” Peter assured, and Tony believed him. “What about your arm?” 

Tony's heart skipped a beat. He could tell it was bad just by the way it screamed under his sleeve, but he didn’t need Peter worrying about him. 

“Everything’s good. I took care of it last night while you were sleeping.” Tony lied through his teeth. Peter seemed relieved and didn’t question him, which caused a sensation that he had never associated with Peter before to collect in his chest. Tony recognized it to be guilt. 

“But now that you reminded me, I should go change the bandages.” He muttered his excuse before slowly climbing to his feet with the assistance of the dirt wall next to him. Once he blinked the spots out of his vision he clambered out of the hole and into the sunlight.

“Okay.” Peter didn’t question him or make any moves to follow him which Tony was grateful for. He didn’t want to make up anymore excuses or lie to Peter again, but he needed to be alone for a little while.

He grabbed the first aid kit out of the backpack and wandered towards a nearby tree. He sat down with Peter still in his sight, but with his back slightly turned to the boy so he could not see what Tony was up to. 

He rolled up his sleeve and peeled off the saturated bandages. 

His arm was a mess. There was so much blood, Tony couldn’t tell where the wound even was at first. It was a garble of black and red and yellow pus; colours that shouldn’t belong on his body. 

Tony wiped himself down with an antiseptic cloth, scarcely holding back his groan of pain between pressed lips, a few runaway tears escaping his clenched eyelids. It was too late and his arm was too swollen to do his own stitches. His wound was badly infected and he would need a medical professional now. The only other person that was even around to help was Peter, and Tony was determined to keep as much stress as possible off of his kids shoulders. If Tony had his way, Peter would never know that Tony was in as much pain as he was now. 

He dry swallowed a couple of painkillers before wrapping up his arm again with fresh bandages. The only good thing that he had discovered was that his injury wasn’t bleeding anymore. 

Tony cleaned up the wrappings and garbage and buried them under a pile of leaves to avoid leaving any noticeable traces behind. He got back to his feet and walked back over to where Peter was sitting peacefully with his eyes closed. 

Tony began repacking all their things into the backpack. “You all rested up kid? It’s time to get going again.” 

Peter took a calming breath before opening his eyes into a lazy gaze. “Yeah. I’m ready Mr. Stark.” He blinked up at him and Tony offered his good hand down to him. 

Peter took it gratefully and stood up, picking up the backpack as he did, shrugging it back onto his shoulders and doing up the clip in front again. 

Once Tony was sure they had everything, he began to walk with Peter through the forest again. This time it seemed like a casual stroll or just a simple hike through the trees compared to their turmoils that they had faced the day before. They had miraculously managed to go through the night without any danger and so far, their morning seemed to be faring the same way. 

They had been very lucky so far.

“Were you meditating or something back there Pete? You seemed very quiet.” This time it was Tony's turn to break the silence as they walked.

Peter scrunched his face as he thought. “No, not meditating just… listening? I guess? I don’t know, it’s just so quiet here, Mr. Stark.” 

“Ah, I see. You don’t get out of New York much, do you?” Tony knew the answer, but asked the question anyway to keep the conversation going. 

“No I don’t. It’s very different out here to say the least. I’m not saying I don’t like it, but the silence is a little unsettling.” 

Tony smirked. “Just wait until you see the stars buddy.”

 

They walked until Tony knew that the medicine he had taken earlier had worn off. The sun was hiding behind dark clouds which were hinting towards an oncoming storm. Tonight would not be fun. 

The pair found a tight cluster of trees to rest on and Peter had taken the liberty to make the sandwiches for lunch. 

Tony had warned him about the rations, which Peter unsurprisingly deemed unfair and refused to eat unless Tony agreed to take some of Peter's food. Tony folded under the influence and power of Peters puppy dog eyes; the eyes that could make him do anything. 

They had been sitting quietly for a few minutes until Peter suddenly whipped around sharply. 

Tony's heart started to accelerate in fear. “What is it?” he whispered, “Danger?”

“No, I think…” Peter suddenly stood up. “Give me a minute.” 

And he took off running.

“Peter!” Tony yelled after him but the kid didn’t look back. Tony rolled his eyes and angrily started stuffing their things back inside the backpack. “Teenagers…” He rolled his eyes and took off after him.

“Mr. Stark, come on!” Peter had stopped in the middle of a clearing to look around some more, listening or sensing something that Tony couldn’t. Tony took this opportunity to catch up with his wayward kid and grab onto his shoulders to keep him from running away again. 

“Peter, what the hell are you thinking! We’re being searched for, you can’t just take off-” Tony started, but Peter raised a hand to silence him.

“Shhh…” Peters eyes kept roaming.

“Don’t you shush me mister-”

“Shhh, Mr. Stark, listen to that…” A ghost of a smile graced Peters face and Tony strained his ears to listen for the same thing that Peter was hearing. His anger faded away as he promptly heard the faint sound of moving water in the distance. 

“Come on, I think there’s a river or something over there.” Peter gently held Tony's wrist and led him towards the sound. 

Sure enough, Peters heightened senses had located a nearby river. The section that they had discovered was shallow and the water was cool and clear. It seemed to stretch on for miles in either direction.

“C-can we go in?” Peter was nearly bouncing with excitement, but Tony was unsure of the safeness that being in the river would provide. If anything was to come from the sky, they would certainly be seen.

“How’s your spider-sense thingy or whatever, how safe do you feel?” 

Peter scratched the back of his neck. “Quiet. Just a buzz, but nothing to be worried about.” 

Tony sighed, “Alright then, but say something as soon as it goes off alright?” 

Peter nodded his head and tenderly stepped onto the rocky beach. Tony decided to remove the bag off of his shoulders before following suit. They were both dirty and sweaty and bloody and the opportunity of getting clean again (or at least rinsed off) wouldn’t be wasted. 

He watched as Peter removed his web shooters from his wrists so he could scrub off the blood that had trailed off of his sliced palms and down his forearms.

Tony wandered into the water until it reached midway up his shins. The clear water was refreshingly cold and soothing against his steadily rising temperature. He crouched to scoop some of the water up with his cupped hands and proceeded to rinse it over his face. The relief that proceeded afterwards worked wonders on his aching joints and stiff muscles.

His body began to relax for the first time in 24 hours and he sank deeper into the feeling, guiding the water up his arms and across his neck.

The feeling only lasted for a moment.

The next thing Tony knew, Peter was screaming his name and the water around him seemed to curdle as Peters panicked voice turned the situation sour in an instant.

He turned in the direction of Peters voice to see his kid sprinting towards him through the water, his face pale and terrified. The expression didn’t belong on Peters face and sent a chill down Tony's spine. 

He ran into Tony's chest gasping and tripping over his words, unable to speak in full sentences. 

Tony held him tightly as he tried to calm Peter down. “Kid, what’s wrong!?” 

“I-I don’t-” He paused before his head snapped towards the direction of the woods. Peter was flicking his wrist out before Tony could even comprehend what was happening. 

The body of a large man, dressed head to toe in tactical gear stood at the edge of the forest. Tony didn't need enhanced vision to see the red HYDRA emblem on the mans shoulder. He was armed with a sophisticated looking gun, and he was aiming straight at the two of them.

Peter had his arm out in his classic Spider-man position, but nothing had happened. They were both momentarily frozen in place. He _knew_ that going into the river would be a bad idea and mentally cursed himself out for it. He could see the kid in his peripheral vision looking down at his bare wrist in shock before looking up at Tony. 

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. 

Tony glanced down to see the remorseful look in Peters eyes before his hands were on his chest and Tony was soaring backwards through the air. 

There was nothing Tony could do but watch as the HYDRA agent fired their weapon and Peter crumpled to the ground with a strangled scream of pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please let me know how I'm doing so far? 
> 
> and sorry for the cliff hanger, I just want to make sure that you'll be back for more ;)


	6. Dead weight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He didn’t have time for this_ , Tony fumed at his body's inability to function but his frustration turned into panic when his brain registered that he didn’t even know where Peter was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter to anyone who celebrates!
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so I hope you enjoy it!

The last thing Tony saw was a red energy blast exiting the nozzle of the gun and colliding with Peters chest before Tony reconnected with the ground and his head was dunking under the murky water. It popped back up almost immediately and he gasped at the sudden change in temperature once his face reunited with the open air. The water was suddenly frigid against his skin compared to the calming sensation it had brought about only a few seconds earlier. 

He had landed on his backside and immediately propped himself up on his hands, frantically shaking his wet hair out of his face like a wet dog attempting to dry itself. He blinked the dirty water out of his eyes just in time to see the HYDRA soldier aim his unknown gun at his face. 

Tony scrambled backwards, deeper into the river, hands scrabbling against the uneven stone that lined the bottom of the shore, his movements slowed by the water the faster he attempted to move. The HYDRA soldier took a few steps closer to the edge of the river, buying Tony a few more seconds to distance himself from the danger, before diving back underneath the water just as the gun went off for a second time. 

The blast caught him on the edge of his foot as it was the last part of his body to reenter the water. The red energy had barely skimmed his foot but the reaction his body had was explosive. All the muscles in his foot suddenly seized and cramped painfully as electricity seemed to burrow its way into his bone matter. A small cry escaped his throat before he clamped his mouth back shut to avoid inhaling any water. The excruciating pain never ceased as his body sank like a stone to the shallow bottom of the river. The water was only a few feet deep and Tony realized around the pain that he didn’t have much time before he would unwillingly float back to the top. 

Tony's heart pounded ferociously as he steeled himself against the pain. His body began to rise and sway with the lazy current as he activated his wrist gauntlet and set it to full power. He only had one chance to take this guy out. _One_. Once he revealed his position underwater there would be no going back. No second chances. The HYDRA soldier was certainly waiting for him with a trained eye and high tech weapon poised, and ready to fire at the slightest movement he saw. 

Tony could barely make out the distorted body of the HYDRA soldier through the waves of cloudy water. The man seemed to be having trouble locating his prey with his uniform goggles on because he made the mistake of reaching up to swipe them off. 

Tony pounced on the opportunity. With cat-like grace, Tony pulled himself into a kneeling position so his upper body was out of the water, raised his weaponized hand, braced himself, and fired. 

The repulsor charge slammed against the man's extended weapon, effectively snapping his arms to the side and the gun out of his hands. It landed in the water next to Tony with a splash. Tony fired again as the man regained his balance and began to reach for another weapon. This time the shot caught him in the chest and sent him flying backwards several feet before he collided with some rather large rocks and fell to the ground in a heap.

“Stay down,” he growled through gritted teeth as he stayed crouched, half-submerged in the water. Tony didn’t dare move, lest he be caught off guard. His arm remained outstretched as he caught his breath and cold water tickled the back of his neck as it dripped out of his sopping wet hair. The man didn’t even twitch, and Tony slowly lowered his hand. “Good boy.” 

He heaved in a breath and gripped his knee once he realized that he was safe for the short time being. It wouldn’t be long until other HYDRA soldiers showed up; the one Tony had just taken out was alone and appeared to be a scout. He needed to get Peter, and get them out of there. _Fast_.

All the muscles in his lower leg were now coiling and uncoiling as if someone had replaced them with a bunch of pissed off snakes, and the sensation of intense pins and needles stung at his veins and nerve endings. He tried his best to stifle his groan of pain as he struggled to get to his feet and instantly fell onto his hands once he was upright. His leg had refused to take his weight and his knee had buckled as a result; sending him splashing back down into the water. His injured arm couldn’t handle the pressure either and he collapsed onto one elbow, his face mere inches from the liquid surface of the river. 

_He didn’t have time for this_ , Tony fumed at his body's inability to function but his frustration turned into panic when his brain registered that he didn’t even know where Peter was. 

His head popped up in alarm as a crack of thunder sounded in the distance. Once his head was upright it didn’t take long to find what he was looking for. 

Peter lay on the ground several feet away from where Tony sat, water lapping at his supine form. Tony could see him moving sluggishly from his spot, but he hadn’t and wasn’t making any attempts to get off of the ground. None that Tony could see anyway, which was a very, _very_ bad sign.

Tony sucked in a frightened breath at the sight. “Peter!” 

With a newfound purpose, Tony forced his legs back underneath himself and peeled his body out of the water. He stepped forward with his good leg, determined to get to his surrogate son. 

And if he fell over again? He would crawl.

He had to physically move his now gimp leg with his hands to get the momentum started since his muscles refused to cooperate with him. His foot screamed as he dragged the limb through the water and applied pressure on it, but Tony refused to give up now. His limp was awkward and slow, but became easier once he reached the shallow water again. It took longer then he would have liked, but he soon found himself dropping to his knees beside where Peter lay on his back, small pebbles sharply digging into his kneecaps. 

“Peter, can you hear me?” Tony's hands hovered overtop of Peters chest, hesitant, and unsure where to touch. 

He hadn’t been able to hear the sounds coming out of Peters constricted throat as he was splashing his way towards him, but now, each gasping whine that squeaked its way out of Peters locked jaw sent a phantom blade directly into Tony's bruised heart. 

Peters hands were clenched into tight fists that were attached to trembling limbs which shook rigidly at his sides. His legs would kick sporadically, causing his back to lift off the ground and thump back down at an irregular pace and his eyes were shut painfully tight. From his angle, Tony wasn’t sure if Peter was crying or if water droplets were simply falling out of his hair. He prayed for the latter. 

Tony decided to rest a hand on his chest where the convulsing was the worst, and on the back of his neck to prevent Peter from injuring his head by bashing it into the stones underneath him. 

“Pete-” Tony's voice cracked and he swallowed dryly. “If you can hear me, everything’s gonna be good. Okay? You’re going to be fine, just hang on.” Tony needed to talk to distract himself from reality. He had no idea what they had been shot with. It had to be some high tech stun gun or something and Peter seemed to be suffering the worst effects of it. 

Tony's brain was starting to go into overdrive. They had to get out of the area but neither of them were in good shape at the moment. Tony also had no idea how long the weapons effects would even last for. They needed a solution to their problem, but Tony couldn’t think over top of the noises Peter was making; noises that were starting to sound like… _choking_.

Tony's heart skipped a beat. “ _Shit, shit, shit!_ ”, he cussed angrily while he jabbed his hands into Peter's armpits and pulled him upright to lean over Tony's shoulder. He would have rolled Peter over, but he was laying in a river and the action wouldn’t have done much to help. 

Tony held on to Peter as tightly as he could without squeezing him to keep the boy from jolting out of his grip and thrashing back onto the stoney ground. He pat Peters back soothingly until a small coughing fit broke through the sickening gurgling noises and his convulsions eased into spasms. It took a few minutes after Peter had calmed down for Tony to notice that his own cramping had dissipated into a familiar fuzzy feeling. It was as if the limb had fallen asleep and it was on it’s way to full sensory function again. There was no more pain, but it was uncomfortable nevertheless. 

A howl echoed in the distance, followed by faint barking. 

_They didn’t have much time._

He gently pried Peters head off of where it rested limply over his shoulder and held it steady in front with him with both of his hands. Peters face was slack and Tony found himself wiping off the bubbling saliva and string of drool hanging from Peters lips before he could comprehend what he was doing. 

“Underoos?” He whispered, and Peters eyes blinked open.

His sluggish gaze found his mentors face and an easy smile slid into place. “Heeeey, mis’er Star’...” Peter slurred, then frowned. “What… time ‘s it?” 

Tony's mind screamed, and he felt his eyes widen before trying his best to regain his composure. That response was _not a good sign_. “Um, I’m not sure kiddo…” It was the honest truth. Tony glanced up towards the darkening sky. The storm was moving in fast and the sun was nowhere in sight. “Do you think you can get up and move?” 

Peters head dropped to his chest, and Tony gingerly raised it back up again for him. Peter searched his face with unmasked surprise. “Misser S’ark? We goin t’ Tok… yo t’day?” 

Tony didn’t bother hiding his growing panic, and anxiety festered in his chest like an untreated disease. He huffed a fake laugh as he slowly lowered Peter back down to the ground and clambered to his feet again. 

“Um, no not today. Sorry buddy.” He stumbled to Peter's upper body and stooped over so he could hoist Peter up from behind. Peter hadn’t answered Tonys question, but it was obvious that the kid wasn’t going anywhere on his own. 

Tony grunted and winced as he pulled Peter upright, his wounded arm nearly rejecting the action all together at the pain that the movement caused. “You know Pete… you’re a lot heavier than you look.” 

Peter made no response to Tony's lighthearted jibe. His head hung low on his chest as Tony dragged him backwards, towards their discarded backpack that contained all their things. 

Once back on dry land, Tony set Peters body down and turned to get the bag. The tingling in his foot had finally receded but feeling hadn’t returned. No, instead his foot had gone completely numb; so numb that Tony had to stop in his tracks to look and see if his foot was still attached to his body. There was no feeling in his lower leg at all, and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t make it move. 

He picked up their backpack and turned to look at Peter where he lay in the dirt, soaking wet and completely motionless. The poor kid couldn’t even move if he wanted to. The red energy blast must have been meant to render them immobile for capture and containment. Peter had taken the full force of the impact and he was still breathing, which meant… HYDRA wanted them alive. 

As if on cue, another dogs mournful cry rang out through the forest, followed by a multitude of others and another clap of thunder. Everything was getting closer, _closer_ , and Tony wasn’t far enough away.

He limped back over to Peters side as fast as his injured and infected body could handle, hurridley throwing the bag over his shoulders and stopping at his kids side. Peters eyes had slipped shut during Tony's short time away, and his breathing had become so miniscule that at first glance he looked dead. 

Tony shook Peters shoulders in a futile attempt to arouse him. “Peter c’mon, it’s time to go now buddy.” Peters pale face rocked side to side with the movement, and his face didn’t so much as twitch at the disturbance. “Peter _please_... I can’t- I… I can’t carry you. Pete, you have to wake up.” Another howl had Tony glancing towards the tree line in apprehension. _That one was close_.

He tugged on Peters arm but it elicited the same empty response. Peter was gone, and Tony couldn’t bring him back on his own.

There was no way Tony could carry Peters dead weight on top of his battered body. He could barely stand on his own two feet, let alone with another person piled on top of him; his arm was throbbing to the rapid pace of his heart despite the painkillers he had taken earlier. He simply couldn’t do it, and there was no doubt about it.

But Anthony Edward Stark was no quitter.

Tony Stark was Iron Man, and Iron Man could do anything. 

He squatted beside Peters body and gripped Peters arm just as the first droplets of rain began to leak from the clouds up above. Whatever qualms Tony had about the rain didn’t matter now. They were already soaking wet. 

With furious determination Tony draped Peters unconscious body across his shoulders and unsteadily rose to his feet. He took a moment to find his balance and adjusted Peter so he was settled more comfortably across his shoulders. 

Progress was slow, and the first steps were particularly tedious, but Tony managed to walk them both into the shore of the river and started to make their way down stream. Tony didn’t dare walk in the quickly dampening dirt and risk leaving visual footprints behind. 

The rain came down harder and more thunder rumbled across the sky. Tony could’ve laughed at the feeling of each drop splattering across his face, as it brought about an intense feeling of relief. 

“Have fun tracking our scents now assholes.” Tony muttered as he licked the residue off of his lips, savouring the moisture of the fresh water. The relief didn’t last long, as Tony soon remembered that there were still soldiers out there in the forest. He had to keep going.

The longer Tony walked, the harder it became for him to stay focused as the heat of fever slowly returned with vengeance. His chest felt as if it laid in the cruel hands of a vice that was slowly getting tighter and his head swam dangerously, smudging the colours around him into some ugly combination of grey and green. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think.

_When did everything become so foggy?_

He was so tired, but the weight atop of his shoulders beckoned- pleaded him to go onwards. His ankle threatened to twist as he kept staggering in every direction the wind blew him. Once in a while it would pull him forward with a dull chant of _keep going! Don’t stop, you’re almost there!_

 _Almost where?_ Tony wanted to ask the voices but he needed the air in his lungs for breathing, not for speaking. 

The rain plastered his hair to his forehead and the fat pellets seemed to be trying to force him to the ground like a group of grumpy high school bullies. He swatted angrily at them, trying to shoo them away but something heavy slipped off his shoulders at the movement. 

He dropped to his knees at the sudden lightness. He just wanted to float away but a sense of unplaced urgency overcame him and he turned around. 

Tony needed to blink a couple of times to register the pale face that laid before him. _Why was Peter in his high school?_ Tony ran a hand down his face. He wasn’t in high school- hell, he couldn’t even remember if he had even _gone_ to high school. He was… sitting in the rain? And he was with Peter.

He was with Peter and they were all wet and they should probably go and get dry. 

But Peter seemed to be asleep, and Tony had absolutely no idea where they were. He was kneeling in sand next to the fast current of a shallow river and Peter lay silently beside him. There were rocks built up high and tall on either sides of the river and if Tony looked up through the rain, he could see trees up above. 

Tony hummed out loud as a jolt of lightning flashed across the sky and an enormous clash of thunder boomed so loudly Tony had to cover his ears tightly. Maybe the rocks could help them dry out from the rain and Tony could find somewhere to sleep. 

Agreeing with himself, he stumbled back onto his wobbly legs and picked Peter up from behind. Peters head lolled against his neck, exposing his expressionless face to the open sky and Tony began dragging themselves backwards through the sand, searching for a suitable gap between the rocks that could house them for the night. 

He found a hole in the rocks that appeared big enough for at least one person to squeeze through. He set Peter down as gently as he could and stepped inside. _Yes_ , he thought. The cave Tony had discovered would suit them perfectly for the night. Satisfied with what he had found, Tony grabbed ahold of Peters ankles and pulled him inside the cave as well. Once he was certain that Peter was in a position where he wouldn’t get rained on, he dropped his kids ankles and collapsed onto the floor beside him. 

Tony was exhausted. 

He didn’t know why Peter was sleeping so much, and at any other time Tony would be seriously concerned. But as of now, Tony's fevered mind only felt relief as he finally accepted the call of sleep.

 

 

_Beepbeepbeep. Beepbeepbeep. Beepbeepbeep._

Peter groaned in annoyance.

_Beepbeepbeep. Beepbeepbeep. Beepbeepbeep._

“Stupid alarm…” Peter fumbled his hand towards his alarm clock but came into contact with something nearly boiling hot. His hand felt over top of the persons face of whoever was laying next to him, not caring who he was groping, simply searching for the cause of the noise so he could put it out. 

_Beepbeepbeep. Beepbeepbeep. Beepbeepbeep._

His hand found the zipper of a bag and he pulled it open, not hesitating to reach inside. He pulled out a variety of objects, none of which were making the sound, so all of which he tossed away until he discovered something small and cubed in the bottom of the bag. 

It took a moment for his eyes to focus on the object that he held in his hand. 

It flashed a blue light at him and was ringing loud and clear. He stared at it in confusion until a familiar voice spoke up from the back of his mind that sounded oddly like Mr. Stark’s voice. 

_“Dispatch communicator. FRIDAYs distress signal went uninterrupted and the avengers can track us with it.”_

His memories struck him like a bolt of lightning. “Oh…” He whispered as he suddenly understood.

The Avengers were coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come scream at me in the comments :)
> 
> there will be more of Peters pov in the next chapters if anyone was wondering lol


	7. Run, rabbit, run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He needed to calm down, but couldn’t. Everything that had happened to him in the past couple of days caught up to him and hit him like a tsunami. The pain and fatigue and hunger and non-stop fear for his life had been piling up for too long. It was all tumbling down around him and his support was lying unconscious on the floor- probably dying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys... this chapter is a little over due... *guilty face*  
> I hope this spiderson content works as a peace offering
> 
> WARNING!! for some gore. You know, just pus and other lovely things infections bring

With nothing else of interest (apart from his realization), Peter found a way to turn the irritating beeping noise off and promptly passed back out. 

When he woke again, everything was much clearer, though it was extremely difficult to pull himself out of the depths of sleep. He didn’t want to move. Instead the desire to sleep for a thousand more years flooded his veins and he tried to sink back under the waves. However, the rock-solid ground wasn’t doing any wonders for his back or skull and prevented him from doing so. 

Peter groaned with displeasure and cracked open his eyes to scan the space he was in with a tired gaze, his sensitive eyes easily adjusting to the dark atmosphere. He lay on his back and Mr. Stark was asleep beside him. More scanning proved that the rock-solid ground was rock-solid because it was made out of rocks. Huh. Nice one, Peter. 

Peter could feel something cold and metal in the palm of his hand and he pulled it up in front of his face to inspect it. He blinked up at the object in puzzlement, awareness chasing all remnants of sleep away. Remembering what the blinking box was, he let his hand drop back onto the stoney ground.

He was utterly exhausted. His body ached and his muscles trembled slightly in the form of small shivers that raced up and down his weakened body. He wasn’t sure what had happened, or where he was. The last thing he remembered with clarity was a HYDRA soldier aiming a weapon at Tony and firing… 

Peter sat upright in a panic before another image flashed across his mind. He had pushed Tony out of the way and taken the shot himself. Peter rubbed a hand across his forehead and frowned. He couldn’t remember much of anything that had happened after that and his head hurt the more he tried to recollect his scattered thoughts. He had been standing in a river, and now he was sitting in a cave. It was without explanation, but Peter would make do. Things had gotten a little wild at Caillou’s house, to say the least.

Suddenly a frigid gust of wind discovered the cave entrance and sent chills running up his exposed skin. He clutched at his biceps in a futile attempt to preserve his body heat, but his shivers only grew as each breeze passed through the little cave. He clenched his jaw shut to keep his teeth from chattering as he examined the room for their backpack. He knew Mr. Stark had packed them some sweaters, maybe even a blanket. 

Peter felt his cheeks grow hot as his gaze traveled around the small area. All of the things that Tony had thought to bring from the plane were scattered around on the stone-slab floor of the cave and a cloudy memory laughed at him, revealing that _he_ had been the one to do it. 

“Whoops…” Peter muttered in embarrassment as he flipped himself onto his hands and knees. He picked up the jar of peanut butter laying nearby, just as nausea slammed into him like a solid punch to the gut. He instinctively wrapped an arm around his angry stomach and his grip tightened around the jar in his hand, the plastic warping under his fingertips until the pain slowly receded. 

He looked at the nearly empty jar with a heavy hearted stare. His enhanced senses honed in on the pungent scent of peanut butter around the stale odor of petrichor and other dirty forest smells, and made his insides ache with desire. 

He was _starving_ , and Peter knew that if he didn’t eat anything soon, the pain was only going to increase. Peter hadn’t wanted to worry Tony by telling him that the practically minuscule rations were barely enough to keep his stomach from shrinking, and they _definitely_ were not enough to keep his metabolism satisfied. The older man had enough problems on his plate and so Peter had tried his best not to complain. 

But his hunger pains would only grow and Peter did _not_ want another repeat of what had happened the previous morning. Time to eat then. 

Another ghost of a breeze floated into the cave and had Peter reaching out for one of the discarded pieces of clothing resting on the cave floor. He pulled the dark blue hoodie over his head and slipped his arms though the damp fabric, half-heartedly realizing that it was not his, but not caring enough to take it off. The man who did own it was currently asleep on the floor, and didn’t appear to be cold at all. 

Peter tilted his head and took another long look at his mentor. Tony lay on his side facing Peter, the backpack straps were still loosely hung over his shoulders, preventing him from rolling over onto his back. Peter thought that was slightly odd, but then realized that the man was probably thoroughly exhausted and his resting was well deserved. 

But Mr. Stark was injured, and Peter decided that he should wake the older man to check on him and feed him while he had the food out.

He placed a hand on Tonys shoulder but retracted it almost instantly in shock. The man lying unconscious on the floor was radiating such strong surges of heat, Peter had to pull his hand away on instinct, to avoid getting burned. Peter knew that was illogical and immediately jumped to Tony's side, his hands going back onto his upper body. Tony was burning up and Peter kicked himself for not noticing earlier. 

“Mr. Stark- Mr. Stark, you gotta wake up… please Mr. Stark…” Peters breath caught in his throat when there was no response to his verbal commands. “Please, _please_... I don’t know what to do.” 

Tony's skin was hot. Hotter than any skin he had ever felt before, and Peter knew that raging fevers were extremely dangerous and potentially life threatening. His eyes stung as he held back tears. He had told Mr. Stark that he would take care of him- but who was he kidding? He hardly knew how to take care of himself, let alone another human being and not to mention another human being _without_ the enhancements he had. The guilt he felt became swamped with panic as it flooded all rational parts of his mind. _God,_ he felt like such a child. He should’ve seen this coming. He should’ve sensed it sooner, _why didn’t he sense it sooner?_

Peter removed the bag off of Tonys back and gently rolled him onto his backside. His mentor stiffened slightly at the maneuvering but made no more hints of waking up. He bit his lip as he looked down at Tonys swollen bicep. It was most likely the source of the problem and Peter knew- he _knew_ he shouldn’t have let Mr. Stark “deal” with it by himself. 

He swallowed convulsively before reaching trembling fingers to undo the yellowing bandages wrapped around Tony's apandage. Peter had to peel them off as they had been glued down to Tony's skin with a mixture of dried blood and white pus that made Peter want to puke. 

Throwing the saturated bandages to the side, Peter set his eyes upon what he had to work with. The sight made him want to gag, and the stench had him doing so into his elbow. He had been able to smell the infection since yesterday morning, but had made the mistake of thinking that it was just another strange scent of the forest. _How could he have been so stupid?_

It was the first time he had seen the injury since he initially pulled the shard of metal out of Mr. Starks muscle. It had been bad then, but now it was unbelievably worse. 

The split skin was an angry red and black from bruising. Dried and fresh blood painted the limb as well as the rancid white pus that leaked sluggishly from the wound. If Peter couldn’t tell that the wound was infected before, he certainly knew now. He kept a hand placed firmly over top of his mouth and nose as he stared down at the gruesome mess in complete horror. Peter couldn’t stop himself from hyperventilating and could feel the effects of it taking its toll on his body. 

He needed to calm down, but couldn’t. Everything that had happened to him in the past couple of days caught up to him and hit him like a tsunami. The pain and fatigue and hunger and non-stop fear for his life had been piling up for too long. It was all tumbling down around him and his support was lying unconscious on the floor- probably dying. 

There was no one around to pick up the pieces. 

His chest _burned_ with red hot flames but he couldn’t breathe. Peter didn’t recognize the fat tears on his face until something snapped inside his chest and a sob tore through his lips. He was breaking down, on the verge of hysteria with nothing in the way to stop it from barging through his mental walls. He was either going to throw up, or pass out.

Everything was wrong. 

They were going to die in the middle of nowhere.

Peter would never see aunt May again. _Did she even know where he was?_

He was _alone. Alone. Alone_. He had been in a _plane crash_. He was starving and _oh God_ , someone had _shot_ him-

“...Pepper?” 

Peters head shot up from where it had been hidden in his knees. In his panic he had pushed himself into the far wall where he now resided in a tight ball. His chest heaved as he pulled himself upright and he hastily wiped at his eyes to clear them. 

“Mr. Stark?” He sniffled and watched as Tony tossed his head and mumbled something unintelligible. He got to his hands and knees and started to crawl his way back over. “Hey, Mr. Stark. Can you hear me?” His voice shook as more tears spilled across his face.

He reached Tony's side and the man laid glassy eyes on him. His cheeks were flush with fever. 

“Pep?” Tony asked again, his voice rough from disuse and face furrowed into a frown. 

He swiped more stray tears off of his face and gingerly took ahold of Tony's hand, shaking his head no. 

“It’s Peter…” 

Tony's face softened as he stared at Peter for another moment. Peter didn’t bother hiding his tears as soon as recognition lit up the eyes of his mentor. “Pete…” He clumsily reached his free palm up to brush the water off of Peters cheeks. Peter found himself leaning into the comforting touch before Tony's hand dropped back onto his chest. 

“Did we win? Did we get away?” 

Peter nodded his head earnestly. “We won.” Tony exhaled and suddenly stilled, his eyelids fluttering shut. Peters heart leapt into his throat at the sight. “No… don’t go _please_... T-tony… _Tony_?”

Tony made no more movements and Peter felt his world shatter. He dropped his head onto Tony's torso, finding small comforts in his slow heartbeat and shallow breaths. He latched onto the small flicker of hope as he buried his face into Tony's chest, letting more tears slip through his closed eyes. He didn’t think Mr. Stark would mind if he woke up to find Peter draped across his upper body and so settled himself there, letting Tony's unnaturally warm body heat reduce his shivers. 

There was no beating around the bush here. Peter was terrified for Tony's life and of the probability of them making it out of the cave alive- let alone the forest. To Peter, their odds were slim to none. There was no way Tony was walking out of the cave anytime soon and Peter wouldn’t leave him behind. Not in a million years. 

So he curled his body tighter around Tony’s body and felt himself relax as exhaustion ate away at his consciousness. 

That’s where he stayed for the following couple of hours. The two simply lay unmoving on the floor, one on top of the other while time slowly passed by. At one point Tony's hand moved to rest in Peters hair, but that was the only movement he had made since he initially woke up. 

Peter drifted in and out of sleep and only cried once more when his hunger pains grew to an unbearable level. They eventually ceased but took another chip of his lucidness as it went. 

His vision was fuzzy and his head spun dramatically at any small noise. He blamed that fact for why he didn’t recognize the war machine armour standing in the mouth of the cave sooner. 

“Tony?” he had asked the silver Iron-man suit as it cautiously stepped towards them. The face plate popped open on the armour to reveal a very stressed looking… _not_ Tony. However, the face was just as familiar and just as welcome. 

Peter could have laughed at the sight but he lacked the energy, instead he opted for the biggest smile he could offer. “Rhodey.” 

“Oh my god, Peter.” He seemed to have rediscovered his legs as he began striding forward with purpose. Peter pushed himself upright before Rhodey scooped him into a tight hug. “You’re about to make a whole lot of people extremely relieved, including a very distraught aunt.” Peter just gazed up at the man, he wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not. 

“Are you okay pal?” 

Peter shook himself out of his stupor. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. But Mr. Stark he’s- he’s really sick.” Peter could hear his voice rising in fear as Rhodeys face turned deadly serious and he crouched down next to his wounded friend, pushing Peter behind him.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, scan please.” the colonel ordered and a blue light swept over Tony's still form. Rhodeys frown grew deeper as the report was read back to him via his ear piece. 

“Alright Pete, we’re going to get you guys out of here but it’s going to be a bit difficult.” Rhodey had turned to face Peter as he spoke, his face was alight with determination. “It’ll take too long for Cap to navigate his way down here so I’m going to have to bring you up one at a time. I can’t carry you both.” 

“Bring Mr. Stark first, he needs more help than I do,” Peter proposed quietly. He still couldn’t believe this was happening. Rhodey smiled at him sadly before placing a finger to his ear and frowning once again. “W-what’s wrong?” 

“Nothing Peter. Cap says I need to bring you up to him so I can take Tony straight to the quinjet,” he stood up from Tonys side and faced him. “Looks like you’re going first kid.”

Peter glanced downwards towards Tony before giving Rhodey a weak nod in affirmation. He didn’t want to leave Mr. Stark alone in the cave but he had no energy to argue with the military officer. He followed Rhodey out of the cave and onto the damp sand. They stood at the bottom of a large ravine with a river flowing swiftly beside them. The only way up was to climb the stones surrounding them or fly. 

Rhodey wrapped his metal arms underneath Peters armpits and pulled him close to his body before shooting straight up into the air. Instinct kicked in and Peter used his powers to stick to the metal of Rhodeys suit as they flew up into the sky. It was a beautiful sensation that Peter had nearly forgotten about. It had only been a few days but he already missed being Spider-man. 

It was a short ride, and soon Peter was back on solid ground again. Rhodey passed him into the arms of Captain America before shooting back up into the sky, off to retrieve Tony. 

Steve held him steady as the two watched as Rhodeys form disappear in the distance. 

“You alright, kid?” 

Peter just nodded. He felt like he was about two seconds away from passing out. 

“Yeah, I bet you are.” Steve looked at him like he was worried Peter was about to collapse, and _honestly_ , Peter couldn't guarantee that he wouldn’t. “Let’s just get you home, safe and sound.” 

“Sounds good,” Peter murmured before his senses jumped from 2 to 11. His body hairs stood on end and his muscles all stiffened. 

_“Cap, get out of there!”_ Peters ears picked up the startled voice of Hawkeye through Steves comm link. _“You’ve got soldiers coming up on you from all sides.”_

Steve took on that stoic look; the perfect ‘Captain America’ stature as he performed a quick parameter search with his eyes, before they settled on Peter. 

“Can you run?” Steve asked hastily.

Peter swallowed, “Yes.” 

Steve gave a curt nod in acknowledgement. “Then follow me,” and with that, he took off into the woods. 

Peter inwardly groaned. _Why did he have to say yes_? Peter cursed before he sighed, steeled himself, and followed after him. 

Steve had obviously slowed his pace so that Peter could keep up, and Peter greatly appreciated it. Adrenaline could only do so much for him and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could run for. His head swam and his knees were weak, threatening to give out on him with every lumbering step that he took. 

He wasn’t sure how long they had been running for- a few minutes at most, when they came upon the first HYDRA soldier. Peters spider sense had spiked, and the next thing he knew, Steve was launching his shield directly into the chest of the enemy and knocking them down for good. 

“Queens!” Steve shouted as he looked over Peters shoulder. The shield was out of his hands again seconds afterwards. “Stay close to me!” He grabbed a fistful of Peters hoodie and pulled him up against his side as they continued to run through the woods. Steve held his shield protectively overtop of Peter, sparing him from any attacks from behind. The soldiers seemed to be coming out of the wazoo. They were all around them, firing their weapons that collided into the trees beside them and sent splinters flying in every direction. 

Peters heart pumped violently as they kept sprinting through the woods; Steves tight grip never once left his shirt. Peter just wanted it all to end.

HYDRA soldiers kept emerging from the trees but Steve never stopped fighting them off even though Peter could tell that the task was getting more difficult to handle. Peter was useless without his webshooters and usual strength and could do nothing but dodge the attacks and watch Steve struggle to protect him.

A sound from the distance was growing louder. At first only Peter could hear the strange hum, but moments later all the heads nearby were turning to face the arrival of the quinjet. Peters eyes widened in joy. 

There it was. _Freedom_.

Steve tugged on his shirt, pulling him forwards towards the lowering aircraft. Unfortunately the surrounding HYDRA soldiers turned their fire onto the high-tech jet, preventing it from lowering all the way to the forest floor. If they were hit and brought down, then there was absolutely no way they could get out of there. 

Steve and Peter would have to jump. 

There was no problem with that, Peter realized. They were both enhanced individuals and could easily make the long distance; if only they could get there without being shot. 

The quinjet ramp began to lower and Steve pulled Peter forward to run alongside him. It was now or never. 

The two sprung off the ground with as much power as they possessed and flew through the air towards the open ramp of the jet. Peters feet were inches away from landing when something wrapped around his ankle, and he was being torn from Steve's grasp, slamming into the ground below. 

Peter whipped onto his back to see what had pulled him back down to earth. A thin cable was wrapped snugly around his ankle, the other end was gripped by a particularly scary looking HYDRA soldier. He barely had any time to comprehend what was happening before a red energy blast was colliding into his gut and he was lost to the world of slumber. 

The last thing he registered seeing was the closing door of the quinjet, and it taking off into the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is a pimple in my nose and it hurts so bad - maggie 2k19


	8. Don't lose hope in your heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A man dressed in green scrubs and a white lab coat walked into the room with his hands clasped behind his back. He was clean shaven and balding on top of his round head. He wore shaded glasses and Peter could see the HYDRA ensign stitched into the corner of his coat, clear as day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so much has been happeningggg. life sucks. why can't we all just live in the world of fanon?? sorry for the wait yet again haha you should just accept the fact that i take forever to update at this point if you haven't already. my canadian blood still demands that i apologize. IM SO SORRY AHHHHHH. But i bring good news! I will be able to start updating much more frequently once the school year is over- and it almost is! I have less than a month left, so yipee
> 
> ps. I got accepted into university, your girls gonna be an actress :)

Tony's eyes were opening before he was even fully conscious and upon doing so, was immediately faced with the blurry image of a mousy haired man with glasses hovering over top of him.

The picture was gone almost as quickly as it came, and he lifted his head blearily to see where the man had gone off too. Unfortunately the action required too much effort and he dropped it back down onto the soft surface underneath of him with a tired thud, letting his eyes drift back shut. His entire body felt like one giant slab of pain. Tony wasn’t completely sure what had happened to his body to make it hurt as much as it currently did, and if it didn’t involve wrestling a bear without his suit, he didn’t want to know. 

“Bruce, he’s waking up.” 

Tony blinked open his eyes at the sound of the voice that had spoken. _Was that Natasha?_

His brows furrowed in confusion. That last place he remembered being was inside a musty cave with Peter sobbing into his shirt. He hadn’t had enough energy to console the boy and had fallen back asleep. Natasha certainly wasn’t there. 

Now he was laying in a cot pressed up against the wall of a quinjet. He recognized his telltale Stark Industries logo painted above him almost instantly. That meant…

“Tony!” Bruce exclaimed and was back at his side at once, eagerness causing him to almost trip over the wires and tubes that were strewn around him. Tony noticed that most were connected to his body. 

The smaller man gripped his good shoulder comfortingly, and smiled down at him. “It’s good to see you awake. You had us all worried for a while there.” 

Tony stared blankly at the man, “I thought you were in Calgary.”

Bruce just raised an eyebrow before straightening up, “and I thought you were supposed to be in Tokyo.” Tony only glared in response; his energy was waning. 

“He got back to the compound the day you left for Japan.” A new voice spoke that had Tony turning his head to the side. Rhodey and Natasha were making their way up the open ramp of the quinjet; Clint following loosely behind them. Rhodey smiled softly as he approached his bedside, “how was the fun V?” The colonel taunted playfully.

Tony's lips curled into a soft smile. He seemed to be making a habit of getting lost in foreign countries, and Rhodey seemed to always rescue him. 

“What happened?” he asked after a beat of silence. 

“Well with the help of F.R.I.D.A.Y, we managed to figure out what had happened to your plane, and how to make an antivirus for her programming so we could get here without the same thing happening to us.” Rhodey started, pushing Tony's legs to the side so he could take a seat on the makeshift bed. “It took us a while to perfect but we made it here in time it seems.”

“If you hadn’t grabbed the dispatch communicator we would most likely be scouring the forest right now, and you would most likely be dead.” Natasha added bluntly with her arms crossed over her chest. She was dressed in her full Black Widow gear and a small smirk graced her lips. “I’m glad you’re alright Tony.” 

Tony tried to sit up to give her a proper response, but was pushed back down again by multiple pairs of hands. He succumbed quickly as his head began to swim again. He longed to rub at his eyes but couldn’t as one arm was wrapped snugly in a sling and the other was taped to various wires and IV ports. 

He ended up rolling his eyes at his friends mother henning. “Jesus. Infection was that bad, huh?” 

“Yes, Tony.” Bruce began as Natasha slunk off to the cockpit- most likely where Barton was hiding out, Tony thought. “You were a fraction away from going into septic shock. Rhodey got you here just in time.” 

Tony nodded slowly and inwardly cringed. He had had a strange sensation wash over him while inside the cave that told him he wasn’t going to make it- not that he would ever mention that to anyone, especially Peter. It had truly been a close call, and he felt terrible knowing that Peter had had to watch him slowly fade. 

Speaking of Peter... “And the kid? How’s he holding up?” 

Rhodey tensed in his seat by Tony's legs and looked up at Bruce pleadingly at the mention of Peter's name. The two shared an uncomfortable expression laced heavily with dread, and both avoided Tony's eyes completely.

Alarm grabbed Tony by the throat at their response- or lack of. “Bruce?”

“I’m so sorry Tony…” Bruce’s choice of words already had Tony's head shaking frantically. “But I don’t know.”

Tony's eyes swept the room now that Natasha wasn’t blocking his field of view. Something was missing that everyone had failed to mention to him thus far. He placed his finger on it almost immediately, kicking himself that he hadn’t noticed sooner. There were no other IV poles, or beds, or hyper, brown-eyed kids bouncing around the place repeatedly asking him if he was alright. 

There was no Peter.

“Where the _fuck_ is my kid, Banner.” Tony seethed, voice low, his fear rapidly disguising itself as anger. He pushed himself up onto his good hand slowly, despite Rhodey’s attempts to push him back down. He growled and swatted at Rhodey’s hands angrily. 

“Tony stop, this isn’t Bruce's fault! We lost him Tony, but we’ll get him back-” Rhodey spoke with the same calmness that he always possessed, gently placing a hand on Tonys heaving chest.

Tony slapped it away again with a snarl. 

“You’re telling me… that you just… _lost_ him?” Tony was beginning to feel lightheaded as the air in the quinjet seemed to thin, but rage fuelled him onwards. “The Avengers lost a 16 year old kid… that was practically glued to my side… how the _hell_ did you manage that exactly?” 

“It was my fault, Tony.” 

Tony whipped his head to the side, finally letting Rhodey hold onto his shoulders as he swayed at the sudden movement.

Steve Rogers stood in the open mouth of the high-tech jet, leaning against the side, eyes downcast. The entire jet was silent as they all waited for Steve to speak again. He lifted a loose fist. “I had him in my hand. We were inches from safety, but the next thing I knew he was gone; plummeting down into the swarm of HYDRA soldiers.” He lifted his head, revealing a hurt expression. Tony knew he wore one of more severity. 

Spots were dancing in front of his eyes now, taunting him with darkness. Tony's mind was spiralling out of control… he had thought that the Avengers had simply lost Peter in the woods (which was bad enough), but they had let Peter get captured by HYDRA? Tony couldn’t have dreamt a worse nightmare. 

Steve kept talking but Tony couldn’t breathe. There wasn’t anymore air left in the quinjet; he must have sucked it all up. But he had to go get Peter. Peter was in danger. Peter...

“I tried to go back and get him Tony, but we had to get the quinjet out of the line of fire…” 

Tony's ears picked up on one last fragment of Steve's speech before a curtain closed in front of his eyes and he went slack on Rhodey's shoulder. 

 

White. The empty room was white. 

Empty, save for himself he supposed. He had woken on the floor nearly an hour ago, all alone and terrified. He was also squeaky clean and dressed in a plain white hospital gown, that (thankfully) tied at the side. 

The room was perfectly cubeular, and all four walls surrounding him were mirrors, completely void of fingerprints and dust. The floor and ceiling was painted a startling white that reflected off the mirrors with such starkness it was nearly blinding. A door was etched into one of the mirrors, but no handle was available. 

Peter wasn’t expecting so much cleanliness from a HYDRA facility. 

The image of himself in the mirror was startling, but in a different kind of way. He was skinny- skinnier than he usually was, but with clean hair and sun kissed skin. Again, he had been expecting himself to look bruised and bloodstained, but instead he was totally clean and healthy looking with the exception of a few still healing cuts and bruises. And he felt good. Better than he had in days, Peter realized. The must have given him some fluids or something while he was unconscious. 

They had brought him some food moments after he had first sat up to assess himself, which Peter had helped himself to greedily, though in hindsight he realizes that was probably not a good idea. 

After eating the small plate of food, Peter had decided to test the durability of the mirrors before climbing up to the top corner of the room, where he now sat curled in a ball on the ceiling. He had placed his palm flat against the surface of the mirror and pushed with a considerable amount of force. The mirror hadn’t even warped a little bit under his super strength. He had then tried the same tactic on the door but discovered the same results. 

Peter had the startling realization that they must know about his abilities because they had obviously prepared the room just for him. 

Peter was a prisoner now. He had even tried placing his ear against the sleek surface to try and pick up any noises coming from outside his box; straining his senses to their full extents, he found nothing. 

So now, he waited. For what, he did not know. 

But he didn’t have to wait long. 

The door to his room slid open soundlessly after ages of him staring at the metal in apprehension. Peter tried to suppress a shudder, but there was no hiding that he was petrified. He had never been in a situation like this and had never wanted to be. From what he had learned from Mr. Stark, these guys were not to be messed with under any circumstances, and if Tony Stark was afraid of them, then Peter Parker had every right to be. 

A man dressed in green scrubs and a white lab coat walked into the room with his hands clasped behind his back. He was clean shaven and balding on top of his round head. He wore shaded glasses and Peter could see the HYDRA ensign stitched into the corner of his coat, clear as day.

The door slid shut once he stepped into the room, and for a moment the two simply stared at each other.

“Hello child, are you planning on coming down anytime soon?” the man asked with a heavy German accent, which took Peter by surprise. He didn’t think anybody here would speak english. The man tilted his head and continued to speak, “Why don’t you hop down here so we can have a little chat…” 

Peter stiffened and sucked in a breath. “No thanks. I’m pretty comfy up here, thanks for the suggestion though.” He clenched his jaw before adding, “I’d rather put off the poking and prodding for as long as I can.” 

The creepy doctor man smiled up at him, before waving a finger in the air and placing it behind his back once again. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear, my dear boy.” 

Seconds later the door was opening again and two more men dressed in the same tactical gear that Peter had seen in the forest walked inside. He barely had any time to prepare himself for danger before one of the men was pointing what looked like a standardized police taser at him and firing. 

The device caught him directly on the meat of his calf muscle and the sudden onslaught of high voltage currents coursing through his body effectively tore his grip from the mirrors and sent him crashing to the ground in a heap. He managed to catch himself with his arms before he could collide face first into the ground. 

As soon as the pain was gone Peter made to push himself back up onto his feet to put up a fight, but the HYDRA men were faster than Peter in this state. One of the men slammed Peter back onto his stomach with a hand held taser pressed against the small of his back. Peter cried out as his body became riddled with intense pain yet again. By the time it was over he had discovered that he had been manoveroured underneath the soldier and had been successfully pinned to the floor.

Peter panted for air. His lungs felt as if they were being crushed under the rubble of the warehouse again, and his head was twisted painfully to the side under the large man’s weight. 

The doctor man strolled up to where he lay trapped on the floor, and crouched to Peter's level. He made to touch Peters head but he jerked away, earning another quick jab of the taser. Peter pierced his tongue with his teeth and immediately tasted blood. 

Peter stilled and gasped for air, his body weakened and spasming. The doctor reached to touch him again and Peter let him this time, too tired to struggle again. The man simply tisked and gently swiped Peters bangs off of his forehead. Peter eyes stung and he fought hard to keep the water from escaping his eyes. 

“Now child, I think it’s time that I introduced myself since we are going to be working with each other quite a bit from now on. It’s hardly fair that I know nearly everything about you, and you know nothing about me, now is it?” 

Peter tried to cover the fear in his eyes. “You’re damn right.” 

The man laughed at Peters response like it was a joke. “He’s a funny one…” He looked up at the man pinning Peter to the floor. “I like the funny ones.”

Peter tried to take advantage of the soldiers brief distraction by pushing himself off the floor, only to realize that the soldier wasn’t as distracted as he thought and the taser was back, this time grazing his spine. Another yelp escaped his lips.

“Funny and… feisty. Yes, yes feisty… but breakable.” The doctor hummed to himself while Peter recovered from the taser bite yet again. Peter could barely hear him speak over the ringing in his ears. “You may want to stop doing that, boy. You will wear yourself out before we even get started.” 

Peter was drained. He didn’t think he could struggle anymore if he tried. The creepy doctor seemed to notice this because he began his speech once again.

“I am doctor Evrik Novak, and I am going to be your handler.” He placed a sweaty hand on Peters exposed cheek. Peter wanted to pull away, but knew that if he tried he would only be met with more pain. Only Tony could touch him like that, and these hands were nothing like the calloused palms of his mentors. 

“You’re such a fascinating creature. I can’t wait to get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM HOLLAND!
> 
>  
> 
> let me know what you think so far?


	9. Grows while I decay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was back after a moment with a bottle of pills and a juice box. He offered Tony the juice box with a kind smile but Tony made no moves to take it. Tony just stared upwards in confusion until the expression slid off the smaller mans face.
> 
> “Do you not like orange juice or something?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my life is heck but look I managed to write another chapter!
> 
> I'm on summer break so I will try my best to start updating once a week,, I'm thinking Saturdays???? no promises though

Tony lay propped up against a combination of the avengers clean laundry and wads of blankets, due to the quinjets distinct lack of pillows. The jet wasn’t exactly equipped with luxury items and so Bruce and the others had improvised; attempting to provide the best comfort they could offer towards their injured genius who refused to lay down flat. 

Tony didn’t protest. Infact, he would’ve been quite comfortable if it wasn’t for someone's belt buckle digging into his back. Other than that and the ongoing ache stemming from his still swollen arm, he was fine. 

He closed his eyes and tried to relax against his makeshift cushions. The rest of the team had been arguing about their next course of actions for a while now and Tony's brain was too foggy for him to join in. He didn’t have much to add anyways. He was just as lost as they were.

The sun had set once again, and the night was dark with cloud coverage. Every now and then the soft pitter-patter of rain against the roof of the jet would create a cozy ambiance, lulling Tony closer and closer to the edge of sleep.

If he took a breath and held it, tuning out all the voices of his comrades he could almost believe that he was in the penthouse of the compound; Pepper in bed next to him, and a movie marathon ready to go.

 _Almost_.

It wasn’t quite real and he wasn’t there. _And_ he couldn’t sleep. Not with Peter trapped outside, and not with the idea of Peter sitting alone in an underground HYDRA facility. 

“You look terrible.” Some disembodied voice commented- quieter than the others that continued to squabble behind them. 

He grunted a small laugh that hurt his ribs, and peeled his eyes apart slightly. “You really need to work on your bedside manners, Brucie.” 

The scientist smiled softly, reaching out a hand to rest against Tony's forehead. His palm was cool against his skin. “Nah, you need someone to shrink the size of your head every now and then. Speaking of heads…” He flipped his hand so the back side was against Tony's face. “You’re burning up.” Banner looked unhappy as he pulled away.

“Always knew I was good looking, but thanks for the compliment.” Tony sighed and attempted to readjust his position. Bruce didn’t laugh at his sorry attempt at humour; shooting him a perturbed look from where he stood unhooking Tony's empty IV bag and turning to replace it.

“You baffle me sometimes Tony. Why didn’t you say anything?” 

Tony was dumbfounded as he watched Bruce set up a new IV bag and toss the other one out.

“About the IV? I hadn’t noticed it, honestly.” 

Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No. About the pain.” 

Tony stilled. He had accepted the fact that he was going to be in nearly constant pain since Peter had pulled the metal from his flesh. He had just assumed that the hurt he was feeling was supposed to be there; it was all apart of getting stabbed. 

“Didn’t think twice about it.” He mumbled to himself after Bruce sighed and left with the promise of return.

He was back after a moment with a bottle of pills and a juice box. He offered Tony the juice box with a kind smile but Tony made no moves to take it. Tony just stared upwards in confusion until the expression slid off the smaller mans face.

“Do you not like orange juice or something? I also brought fruit punch, if you would like that better...” 

“Bruce. I’m not seven years old, I don’t need a fucking juice box to take some pills. Just get me some water or something.” He whined and tried not to shrink back from Bruce's narrowing eyes.

The scientist dropped the juice box into Tony's lap and popped the cap off the pill bottle. “The juice will help you feel better, trust me. It’ll perk you up, and so will these.” He carefully sorted two white pills into his hand and offered them to Tony as well. This time Tony accepted them while Bruce poked the little plastic straw into the juice for him. 

“The heck are these anyway?” He put the pills in his mouth and dry swallowed them, sipping the juice to wash away the aftertaste.

“Your antibiotics. We can’t just put you on painkillers and fluids and expect that infection to go away, now can we?” Banner smacked at his good arm playfully before straightening up. 

Tony just sucked on his straw. Bruce had been right, the sugar and vitamins were helping him feel better. He felt like he had more energy than he had in days, since before the plane crashed. It was rejuvenating to start to feel like himself again, and he drank until the box was empty and the straw was sucking air along with the last remnants of juice. 

The gurgling noise had Bruce nodding in contentment. “Would you like another one?”

Tony kept sucking. “Maybe,” He muttered around the straw in his mouth. 

Bruce shook his head before turning on his heel and leaving once again. Probably to get Tony another juice box. In his absence, Tony took the opportunity to listen in on the avengers ongoing conversation. They had finished arguing it seemed, and appeared to have moved onto the planning stage of the rescue mission. 

“If the location FRIDAY has given us is correct, then from where we’re currently parked it will be about a two hour hike to the main entrance. Once we get inside we can split up into two groups and start our search for the kid. Nat and I will go together, leaving Clint and Rhodey. Bruce and Tony will stay behind.”

“Oh that’s _great_ Steve. Four of us attacking a fully developed HYDRA base.” Clint butted in. “Did you forget that they will have doubled their guard now that they know we’re here? Hell, maybe even _tripled_ it. Do you really think we can just walk up to the front gate and they’ll all be like: ‘Yez come inzide we haf vat you want’.” Steve deadpanned at Clints ministrations. 

The soldier opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Rhodey before he could utter any words. “Dude, that was a terrible German accent. I’m offended for the Germans.” 

And now they were back to arguing. Tony rolled his eyes just as Bruce arrived with his second juice box. He had already put the straw in for Tony and gently passed it into his good hand. Once Tony started drinking again Bruce turned his attention to the bickering group, arms crossed over his chest.

“Have they gotten anywhere yet?” he asked.

Tony shook his head. “Nope.” 

He was getting frustrated. He was already pissed at his friends for losing Peter in the first place and now they were struggling to come up with a plan to get him back. The longer he listened to their fighting, the more anxiety collected in his chest. It was dizzying, and something only a certain spider-kid could cure. 

“Boys, don’t you think you’re forgetting our other little problem?” Natasha inquired. She sat in the pilot's chair, straddling the seat and resting her arms against the back of it. “The base is underground. We were lucky enough that FRIDAY was able to hack into that satellite that found the entrance, but we know nothing of the maze that lies underneath the surface.” She paused briefly to let the information sink in. “Not to mention that we won’t have the assistance of Thor or Hulk, which is a pretty big loss of attack power for us. All we really have here is stealth.” 

“And stealth is all we’ll need for this to work.” Steve countered. “I have a plan. And it requires all hands on deck if we want it to work. And I mean _all_ hands.”

Steve's head turned to meet Tony's eyes. “That includes you Tony.” 

 

Peter struggled in the tight grip of the soldiers as they hoisted him up off the ground and onto the thin cushioning of the blood stained operating table that had been brought into his room. He kicked and screamed but the men holding him would not refrain. They were stronger than him in his current condition and the thought was nearly paralyzing. 

Peter hadn’t felt this helpless since before he was bitten by the radioactive spider.

Flash and his gang had been crueler when they were younger and many nights he had been left nursing black eyes, or crying into Ben's shoulder. The dread of going to school, and the hatred towards himself for being weak and tiny were feelings that he had forgotten all about. They were feelings that were currently threatening to tear his frantic mind in two. 

Helpless, cornered, scared.

This time there was no Ben to comfort him. No Tony or May to remind him that he was better- he was stronger, and that it would all be over soon. No one but that stupid balding man that seemed to grow more excited with each clasp that closed around his limbs, keeping him tied to the table. 

Peter tugged as hard as he could on the metal restraints, forbidding himself to cry. His eyes stung and his vision blurred with unshed tears, but crying would only make him feel weaker inside. His muscles trembled as he pulled with all his might, but the cuffs barely budged. 

The rest of his room was quickly filling up with carts of scary-looking medical supplies and people dressed in scrubs. People whose faces Peter could not see; faces hidden behind half masks, presumedly protecting their identities. 

Then, the touching. Hands reaching under his gown to press cold stickers onto his chest, then his forehead and legs. The adhesive burned his sensitive skin and he tossed his head angrily to try and rid himself of them. Nothing he tried would work in his favour.

“The Gods have been watching me.” Peters head whipped to the side as Novaks German accent rang out overtop of the clatter of his lackeys preparing for their work to start. The man stood off to the side, staring at Peter with such a profound expression of glee, it made Peter feel sick inside. “Your abilities have been a topic of wonder between us scientists here; myself being the most intrigued. Imagine my excitement to hear of the great Spider-man falling out of the sky, here at my home of all places.” 

Novak casually strolled towards Peters head, the grin never leaving his face. When he was close enough, he reached out a hand to gently brush a few stray locks of hair off of Peters face. “The Gods have been watching me, yes. And they have blessed me with your presence. I won’t be wasting our time together child, you can rest assured.” 

Peter swallowed around the lump of fear building in his throat. Novak reached into his lab coat pocket and removed two very familiar items- his web shooters.

“Did you make these yourself Peter, they are very impressive.” He pocketed one and used his free hand to remove the web cartridge out of the wrist band of the other, admiring it carefully. Peter couldn’t bring himself to answer. “I take your silence as an affirmative. It’s nice to know you have brains as well as brawn.” 

“Where did you get those.” Peter finally managed through clenched teeth. The last he had worn them was when he was at the river with Tony. He hadn’t even realized that they were missing.

“We found them in the woods. You Americans seem to always be leaving behind your most prized possessions.” 

Peter furrowed his eyebrows at the statement. What else could they have left behind? “Yeah? And what’s that supposed to mean?” His voice shook as his heart continued to hammer loudly through the speaker of the heart monitor that one of the nurses plugged in. If HYDRA didn’t know he was scared before, they did now. 

Novak gasped and clutched his chest mockingly. “Oh, you don’t know? Your associates, your Avengers have gone. They rescued their precious Mr. Stark and ran away back to their homeland.”

“That’s not true.. It can’t be.” Peter couldn’t bring his voice above a whisper. _What if they have gone back_ , Peter thought. _What if Mr. Stark was hurt so bad they had to bring him home?_ Even if they did, the avengers would never leave him behind for good. They would come back for him sooner or later.

“They abandoned you, and now you’re mine.” The doctor smiled cruelly down at him, brushing his fingers down the inside of Peters forearm until they came to rest in the crook of his elbow.

Peters blood began to boil. “You’re a _liar_.” He seethed, hands curled into tight fists shaking with anger. “They’ll be back for me, you’ll see, and when they come, you’ll be begging for mercy.” 

Novak didn’t have the decency to look disturbed in the slightest, instead he patted the crook of his elbow twice and continued smiling. He ordered something in German and seconds later, one of his fellow HYDRA members was placing a needle filled with blue liquid in the palm of his open hand. 

“No. _Stay away from me with that_ -” Peter started to protest but cut himself off to hold his breath as Novak wasted no time inserting the needle into his arm and releasing the plunger. When the vial was empty he pulled it out of Peters flesh and placed it on the cart beside him. 

Peter gasped as his body shuddered involuntarily. A cold sensation was pooling inside him, slowly spreading from his limb and up through the rest of his body. He couldn’t stop the growth. Panic was causing him to break out in a sweat that rolled down his body in places that he couldn’t reach. 

Time seemed to slow as the coolness spread throughout his entire being. Everything sounded wavey and louder than usual. His body relaxed against the table for the first time since he had been placed on it, and he wondered why he hadn’t relaxed earlier. It was so comfy. 

The steady beating of the heart monitor beside him was slow and rhythmic. It was much more calming than the rapid pace it had blared earlier. He briefly noticed everyone in the room watching him with curious expressions, but couldn’t bring himself to care. He didn’t care about anything in the world. 

“Peter, can you hear me?” 

_Yes,_ he tried to say, but all that he heard come out of his mouth was a sigh and soft hum. Weird. 

The blurry man standing above him reached out a hand and squeezed the pressure point on his shoulder so hard he thought his shoulder would break in half. His body refused to flinch away from the source of discomfort and the hand didn’t retreat until he cried out in pain. 

A few tears that had been sitting unshed finally spilled over and escaped down the side of Peter's face. A hand swiped it away and Peter shut his eyes in misery. He hated crying in front of people. 

The man that had been standing beside him, bent down to speak in his ear. “I think you’ll find, my dear boy, that you will be the one begging for mercy. Quite soon.” He stood back up, patting the shoulder that he had just tormented, like an old friend. 

“Quite soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> does anyone have any good whumpy fic recs? specifically ones where Peter gets real beat up? I need a hit list for the summer lmao
> 
>  
> 
> comments give me life


	10. To think is to be alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter blinked through the never ending stream of water coming from his eyes, daring the world to make sense once more. He couldn’t understand where he was or what he was doing; just that he was hurting so badly it stole his breath, and the people around him wouldn’t help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY POOR CHILDREN IT'S BEEN SO LONG AAAHHHHHH
> 
> I'm not going to lie, things have been really tough for me lately. I thought I was going to be able to start updating once a week, but summer school kicked my ass SO HARD and I was not ready for it. When that was over I was up north on my reserve with my family, and when I got back? BOOM writers block. I had no idea where I wanted to go with this any longer and this chapter was such a struggle to get out. I tried, then stopped, then tried then stopped. And soon enough, writing just seemed like a chore. It wasn't fun anymore. I felt so bad about not updating, but I just couldn't write. It also _really_ doesn't help to have people always commenting "when are you updating??" "You don't update consistently enough" and blah blah blah. It just hung over top of me like a big dark cloud and soooooooooo I took a break. I hope you're not too mad, because HEYO IM BACK NOW YEEHAW
> 
> (side note) why didn't anyone tell me I've been spelling Steves last name wrong this whole time?? was I just supposed to figure that out myself or????
> 
> WARNING!! for torture and human experimentation! if you don't like that stuff then why are you here i've only been foreshadowing this since chapter 2 but okay
> 
> eat up, babies

Peter didn’t understand what was happening to him, the only clear thought that bounced around the inside of his skull was pain and the pain was unceasing. 

Metal continuously pierced his skin. Incisions over top of incisions when his body rapidly healed from the previous openings; soon leading to pins and wires keeping sections of his chest and wrists held open wide. Gaping and bare. 

Dissected.

When the dizziness passed and he gathered enough strength to lift his head from the table, they stuck him with more needles. Novak called it medicine, but even Peter knew in his agonized state that it was nothing more than a concoction of muscle relaxants created solely for the purpose of keeping him still and compliant while they chopped and stabbed away at him. They wanted him awake. They wanted him to hurt. But most importantly, they wanted him to _remember_. 

A pang of sorrow ricocheted off the hard bone of his skull, because it was working. 

Nothing could help him forget the sight of his body seeping blood and hosting intrusions of unrecognizable tools. His fingers trembled and he screamed for them to stop until his voice was hoarse and the needle was pricking his flesh once again. 

Peter lost control of his body over and over again, each time recovering quicker from the highs, but still left to suffer the effects. Left to cry and heave and _feel_ , as he begged for them to _stopstopstop_ , until his ramblings morphed into intelligible speech and they upped his dosage and stuck him again. 

Again and again and again; a never ending cycle of hurt with no comfort. 

What more was there for him to do than cry? There was no distraction to mask what was real. 

“Please… please stop…” Peter whined in between pitiful gasps and cries of pain. A nurse appeared in his line of vision, scalpel in hand. He watched the woman lower it to his side and Peter couldn’t take it anymore. 

With a rush of pure adrenaline he awoke his sleeping fingers and latched onto her wrist just before she could slice into his skin. “D-don’t… please no more…” his voice was weak and rough to his ringing ears.

Her form was blurred to Peters drugged perception, but he could still make out her eyes that narrowed into a sharp glare before she twisted her arm harshly out of his loose grip. She didn’t spare him a second glance.

“Doktor, das subjekt ist wieder mobil.” Her words danced in front of his eyes, never quite reaching his mind. Blending and warping out of time and space. Meaningless to his ears. 

Peter blinked through the never ending stream of water coming from his eyes, daring the world to make sense once more. He couldn’t understand where he was or what he was doing; just that he was hurting so badly it stole his breath, and the people around him wouldn’t help him. 

A hum echoed from somewhere nearby. Or maybe the buzz of an insect? 

“Wann war die letzte dosis?” Peter stilled. That voice was one of a bad man- a man with a name that Peter couldn’t remember. But it didn’t matter. The scary man was speaking.

“Vor ungefähr sieben minuten, doktor.” 

“Fascinating.” 

Peter didn’t understand. He couldn’t. His body was coming back online, albeit slowly, and he tugged on the metal holding his wrists down to no avail. The only thing he was successful in was causing himself more pain, as the feeling of his skin ripping cascaded down his limbs and he stopped abruptly with a shout. 

“Hor auf, alle.” The bad man commanded and the room came to a stand still at his words. The pain never left Peters body but he could no longer hear the squelch of his own flesh splitting under their blades of science. 

A slippery but rubbery hand was suddenly at his cheek, peeling one of his half-lidded eyes open, and forcing Peters delicate gaze to match the stare of his torturer. 

“Er baut eine intoleranz auf.” The man declared before he pulled his slick gloves from Peters face and began to remove them from his hands; Peter vaguely noted that they were a startling shade of cherry red. Peter let his eyes fall back closed at the sight, too weak to bother holding them open any longer as his body shuddered of its own accords.

“Gruppieren sie im labor, um die hier gesammelten daten zu überprüfen.” The flat of an open palm was placed on his forehead as the sounds of feet moving filled the area surrounding him. Peter lay still, afraid to move and cause himself more pain as the hand began to brush his sweaty locks from his face. It was almost comforting. _Almost_. 

“Beginn der herstellung von serum 37-a.” The man gave one last command to his lackies before they all disappeared through the door that they had originally entered through, leaving Peter alone with the hand on his face.

They existed in silence while the man stroked Peters hair, and Peter continued to cry softly, his chest rattling with every intake of oxygen. 

“You are my special one. Did you know that boy?” Novak finally broke the barrier of silence between them. Peter had nothing to say to the man. “I’m going to take such good care of you, but you must learn to cooperate. You have to understand, there are no prisoners with HYDRA, only order. And order only comes through pain.” The hand stopped carding its way through his hair. “You must learn to accept your fate. Next time will be much worse if you do not.” 

Peter choked on a sob. _Next time_. He pulled his eyes open and used every ounce of strength he had to look the sinister man in the eye. “No.” he croaked brokenly, but the anger was still evident in his voice. “No… next time.”

There would be no next time. The next time a group of people walked through the door they would be there to rescue him. The avengers would be the only people allowed to touch him ever again (maybe May too). 

Novak laughed and the sound reverberated around the room, curdling Peters blood. “Oh you foolish child, when will you learn?” The fingers that had been previously gently carding through his fringe were suddenly twisting into his scalp, yanking his head back into the table and exposing his bare throat to the open air. 

“We will come again. By the end of the next session you will be _screaming_ \- begging us to kill you, but we won’t. We will come _again_ and _again_ , until you’ve lost your mind, and then we’ll keep coming. We will keep coming until you know that you’re _ours_.” His face split open into a wide grin. “At the end of it all, you will be one with HYDRA.” 

All Peter could do was whimper as the pain increased tenfold with his head in the new position. His entire body had shifted with the movement and Peter had to clench his jaw tight to prevent himself from screaming at the excruciating pain. 

Novak released his grip and tisked at the sight of the pathetic boy in front of him, brushing away the few tears that ran down Peters damp cheeks. Peter wanted nothing more than to get the man's disgusting hands off of him but he lacked the energy and strength to do anything about it. 

His eyes sagged back shut. He couldn’t bare to look at anything in the room, including himself. He didn’t even have the strength to lift his own head. He was weak, and Novak knew it- knew that Peter hated feeling that way and soaked it all up like a sponge. 

“Rest now child. We will be back soon.” 

And he left the room. 

The next time the door opened Peter cried.

 

Tony and Bruce typed furiously onto their tablets from their seats on Tonys makeshift bed. Tony sat propped up on his ‘pillows’ with his legs sprawled over top of the scientists lap. They sat in a comfortable quiet; the only sound available to hear was the soft moan of the quinjets air conditioning and the rhythmic tap of fingers against plastic. The other Avengers had set out for the HYDRA base approximately 30 minutes prior, which meant that they had about 1 hour and 32 minutes left to perfect FRIDAYS new coding. 

It had taken a lot longer than Tony would have liked to admit for the avengers to pull themselves together and create a plan that gave them a good chance of survival, but they got there in the end.

Between all of their collective brain cells they realized that it may be possible to use the antivirus for FRIDAY to hack into HYDRAs computer systems and create a facility-wide systems shut down. From there, the team could locate the bases main computer, find where they’re keeping Peter and bust him out safe and sound. Once they had their payload secure, Tony would fly the quinjet to pick them up, and they would bomb the base while they’re at it for good measure. 

A good old switcheroo of tactics. If they could decode the computer intelligence that HYDRA used to hijack FRIDAY, they could use a similar method to do the same on them. It was simple.

Simply dangerous. 

Of course, there was always the possibility that FRIDAYs new coding wouldn’t work, or if it did, HYDRA could easily undo it and they would suddenly have a bunch of famous avengers in their clutches. Their tech person was obviously a genius; Tony could see it plainly. It couldn’t have been easy to hack Tony Stark's personal AI, but then again, FRIDAY wasn’t prepared for combat, and this guy hadn’t yet had a taste of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner combined. 

“You almost done on your end Tony?” Bruce muttered from underneath Tony's weight. The light from his Starkpad reflected off of his glasses, shielding his eyes from Tonys glance. 

“Not quite. I’m going as fast as I can with one hand you know.” Tony let the statement hang in the air. The man had refused to let Tony take his arm out of the godforsaken sling; outright threatening to sedate him if he tried to remove it and Tony was still bitter about it.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all.

Peter was a prisoner of a terrorist organization known for torturing their captives into insanity and breaking their wills entirely, while Tony sat in an airconditioned super jet, sipping juice. The kid didn’t deserve that.

It should’ve been him. It should’ve been him.

It was his fault Peter was here in the first place. If he hadn’t been so overly rambunctious, Peter would be safe and sound in his apartment with May, a fat lego set sitting on his desk instead. That’s what he should have gotten him. Lego.

Peter didn’t need this bullshit. He didn’t fucking deserve to be caught up in the hurricane that was Tonys life. 

But still. 

Here he was.

Tony would give anything to switch places with Peter right now.

_It should have been him._

“Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, Captain Rogers and the others are approaching the last 7 miles of their hike to the enemy base. It would be wise to deploy my new coding onto their tech to disguise them from any tech sweeps of the area.”

Bruce stiffened, “tell Steve to hold off for a few more minutes, we’re almost done here I think.” 

“Delay that order Fri, have them keep going and enter what we have so far into your code.” He could feel Bruce's eyes on him but he didn’t look up from his work. “Let us know if it works at all. We’ll keep working in the meantime.” 

“Yes boss.”

“Tony, what are you doing? If they get caught, this whole mission will be over before it even starts.” Bruce sounded flabbergasted and Tony finally spared him a look.

“They’ll be fine. Steve’s done this a hundred times already.” The creases on Bruce's forehead became more pronounced and Tony returned to his work. “The chances of them getting spotted manually is far more likely than them getting spotted by a tech sweep anyway.”

“Waiting a few extra minutes won’t hurt anybody Tony, we just have to be patient.” 

Tony froze. Bruce seemed to realize his poor choice of words because he began to sputter out random strings of sentences. 

“Won’t hurt anybody, Banner?” Tony slowly dragged his eyes away from the screen to look Bruce directly in his fearful gaze. There had been a lot of shit piling up in Tony's chest, and Bruce just lit the match. 

“Tony, that’s not what I meant… I- I..”

“Every extra minute we wait, is an extra minute that my fucking kid is being tortured.” his voice came out steady and calm despite the storm brewing inside of him. He was ready to burst. 

A scream echoed inside of Tonys skull and an image flashed before his eyes. One of Peter being shot by the soldier on the beach. He never wanted to hear Peter make that sound again, and never _ever_ wanted him to hurt that badly again. The mere thought of it was torture on its own. 

“We’re going to get him back. I just wanted to handle the risks with more caution.” Bruce spoke calmly and placed a gentle hand on his shin, where it rested on the scientists lap.

Tony tore his gaze away. His eyes stung for some reason.

“Dr. Banner, may I remind you it is time for boss to take his antibiotics.” FRIDAY softly interjected, as if she knew she was interrupting a delicate moment. 

“Yes okay.” Bruce poked at Tonys legs that still rested on top of him. “I’m going to stand up now, so you move the legs.” 

He did so bonelessly; everything suddenly reminding him of Peter. Bruce left to retrieve his medication but Tony still tilted his head towards the wall of the jet as a few hot tears spilt down his cheeks. He wiped them away with a sniff before the doctor could notice them. 

Tony hated being pitied. 

He took his medication and set back to work, simultaneously fighting off the drowsiness that the meds carried into his brain until… he did it.

“Bruce.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got it.”

“Got what?” 

“The code you big green goof.” The two just sat, eyes wide. “Lets go hack a HYDRA base.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German Translations (according to google translate so it's probably wayy off sorry)  
> Doktor, das subjekt ist wieder mobil: Doctor, the subject has regained mobility  
> Wann war die letzte dosis?: When was the last dose?  
> Vor ungefähr sieben minuten, doktor: Approximately seven minutes ago, doctor  
> Hor auf, alle: Stop, everyone  
> Er baut eine intoleranz auf: He's building up an intolerance  
> Gruppieren sie im labor, um die hier gesammelten daten zu überprüfen: Regroup in the lab to review the data we've collected so far  
> Beginn der herstellung von serum 37-a: Begin preparation of serum 37-a
> 
> I'm now on Instagram! @jaybaybay_01 ! come chat with me, send me your shit, whatever you've got. I wanna be frensss
> 
> your feedback is kinda the only reward I get for doing this so uh... hit me up pls


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